


Pack Mentality: Stark

by alicat54c



Series: Pack Mentality [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Arrancar, Gen, Pre-Series, Time Travel, pre-winter war, transcendant ichigo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4142019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicat54c/pseuds/alicat54c
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They would have been known as the primera espada, if it wasn't for the boy with the orange hair crash landing into the desert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It started with silence, punctuated by distant echoing roars and screams- so an average night in Hueco Mundo. Lilinette sat quietly at his side as he dozed, drawing patterns in the sand with her fingers. Occasionally a low wind would moan, erasing all her work, but after a brief pout, she would simply begin again. What else was there to do, after all?

A sound like an explosion rent the air. Before the hollow could do more that open his eyes, a wave of sand engulfed him and his partner.

Starrk thrashed against the reitsu dampening grains of white, clawing in what he hoped was an upward direction. His head broke the surface and he gasped, coughing up lungfuls of sand. He looked around for his companion, but saw only endless white. Not even the piles of dead hollows crushed by their spiritual pressure could be seen.

"Lilinette!" he yelled, voice hoarse from disuse. He stretched out his senses, but couldn't feel her. The only possible reason for that was if she had died (NoNoNo), or-

Frantically Starrk began digging through the sand. Lilinette was so small, if she was buried too deep the weight of the sand would trap her. He would dig up the entire desert to find her if he had to.

"Starrk!" A voice called from just beyond his range of sight. The arrancar abandoned his task to scramble over a sand dune.

There she was, looking shaken at his disappearance, but otherwise unharmed. He flew to her side so fast, to an outside observer he looked as if he had teleported.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" she grumbled as he checked her over for injuries, though she didn't pull away. "This guy saved me from the sand."

Starrk noticed the dark figure at his side for the first time and froze. His first instinct was to run away; after all it would be impolite to accidentally kill Lilinette's rescuer just by being near him. However the figure did not seem to be in any discomfort from their proximity. If anything, Starrk's reitsu felt tamped down, as if the pressure of the ocean were weighing on his shoulders.

The arrancar took a breath and focused on the orange haired stranger. He couldn't sense any spiritual powers from him, yet...it was like sitting in a great cathredral in the dark: you couldn't see the walls, yet the air tasted of an unimagionably large presence.

The stranger smiled calmly as one in complete control of a situation. "It was the least I could do, after all, it was my fall that caused so much trouble."

"Thank you," Starrk said, banishing his musings and bowing his head. "Is there any way I can repay you?"

"She isn't the first green haired little girl I've run into here," the stranger made to brush the comment off, but hesitated. He glanced around and scratched the back of his shaggy haired head. "This is Hueco Mundo, isn't it? Do you know how I can get to Karakura Town from here? It's in the human world."

If Starrk needed any more confirmation that the man was not a hollow this was it; however he did not feel like a shinigami either. He didn't feel like anything, or rather, the hollow's senses were not large enough to encompass what he was.

"We can take you!" Lilinette crowed eagerly. Since when had she ever shown so much emotion? Starrk wasn't sure, though there was little occasion for it alone in the desert, so it didn't concern him much.

"Are you sure? I'm going there to fight, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

Starrk wondered what kind of enemy would worry the being in front of him. Lilinette held no such reservations.

"Please! Let us come with you! It's the least we can do!"

"Fine," the stranger sighed, "but please stay back when I ask you too." He bowed his head slightly. "I'm Ichigo."

"I'm Lilinette Gingerbuck!" The green haired girl grinned widely and looked at her partner. "He's Coyote Starrk!"

"Pleased to meet you," the stranger said with a smile. "I'm in a bit of hurry, so if you could...?"

Starrk obligingly backed up a few paces before waving a hand to open a portal. The air shattered like glass.

The stranger looked mildly interested, but otherwise unsurprised at the ease with which realities were rent. The arrancar wondered where the stranger had come upon other hollows strong enough to open a garganta as stable as this; as far as he knew one would need to be a powerful adjuca at the very least to be able to do it.

Lilinette clung to his side as they walked through, the stranger just a step behind.

"Ah, that's what it was!" Lilinette hissed triumphantly. Starrk looked at her questioningly. She tapped her nose. "He smelled like something, but I couldn't remember until now. It's this," she waved her hand at the darkness around them, "the in-between place."

He hummed to himself and filed the information away. He could unwravel the mystery of Ichigo later.

The end of the garganta crackled into existance on a grassy knoll well outside of any human settlement. Never in his memory had Starrk ever ventured from the white sands, and Lilynette's curious eyes spoke of similar inexperience.

The stranger confidently walked past them and exited the portal. Starrk hesitated. The human settlement was just barely visible on the horizon, but humans were much weaker than hollows. He didn't want to inadvertently kill any of them simply by existing.

Lilynette tugged at his hand, her eyes pleading with childlike wonder to explore the odd green plants surrounding them. Starrk closed his eyes and took a slow breath. He tried to hold onto the feeling of his reitsu being pressed down into himself instead of floating about, and took a step onto the ground.

He hoped it was enough.

"This is Karakura?" Ichigo said, his voice still calm.

The green haired girl looked up from her investigation of a pink five petaled growth. "It's over there." She pointed to the horizon.

He squinted at the scattering of buildings. "You two should wait here," he said, and made to flash step away.

"You will come back won't you?" Lilinette caught his sleeve haulting his escape.

The stranger looked into her pink eyes and smiled, laying a gentle hand on the top of her mask. "Of course I will."

Her smile could have outshined the sunrise, and Starrk felt a wave of warmth flow through him. Lilinette had grown quite attached to the stranger in their short time together.

One final pat, and he vanished in the direction of the city. Lilinette returned to her exploration, and Starrk settled against one of the thick wood trees for a nap.

Much too soon the sound of hurried voices pulled him back into wakefulness. Ichigo had returned and seemed to be hushing Lilinette's attempts to pester him with questions, his brown furrowed in thought.

"I need to go to Soul Society," he said agatatedly, when it became apparent that the other man was conscious.

Starrk hesitated. "If we do that, the Shinigami will kill us on sight."

Ichigo blinked and looked at them. "Oh right, you're arrancar." He frowned thoughtfully and nodded to himself. "Right, wait here," he said, and vanished back into the human town.

He returned a few minutes later, arms full. "They shouldn't know what you are if you cover your hollow holes," he said, passing them two bundles of clothes. "And if they do...I'll talk them out of it."

Lilinette ended up needing some help putting her outfit on, since she had never worn anything but a green furred cloak, but she adored the pink kimono. Starrk's kimono was a bluish grey, and with a scarf around his neck did a fair job of hiding the mask fragment and hole on his chest. Lilinette refused to hide her mask under a shawl, and Ichigo didn't press her.

"They probably won't know what you are yet anyway," he said distractedly.

This time the garganta dropped them in a wild wood. Starrk might have mistaken it for another location in the human world, were it not for the lack of animals and the thick reshi in the air.

"You two should wait here. I need to find some people."

"Friends of yours?" Lilinette asked, blinking up at the taller orange haired man, affection evident on her face.

A wry smirk tugged at the corner of Ichigo's mouth. "Well, they don't know they are yet."

The green haired girl opened her mouth to question that odd statement, but Starrk reached out a hand and pulled her to his side. He felt antsy with all the weak souls and shinigami around, so the sooner they left the better.

Her ire quickly turned on him. Ichigo chuckled lightly as she rammed her elbow into Starrk's gut, knocking him to the ground.

"I promise to be back soon," he said kindly, patting her head with his bandaged hand. He vanished with a buzz through the foliage.

The arrancar settled his back against a tree, but didn't close his eyes. He couldn't even pretend to relax in this place.

Not soon enough Ichigo returned, face haggard. Lilinette immediately gave him a hug, burrying her face in his robes.

Stark got the faint scent impressions of metallic swords and the sparking zing of kido from his other half.

"Are you all right? They didn't hurt you, did they?" she growled, like a puppy concerned for its master. If Stark didn't already know how much loyalty he felt towards the young man who delivered him from loneliness, Lilinette's behavior would have been a major clue.

The dark look in Ichigo's eyes lightened as he patted her head fondly. "I'm fine."

She wriggled until her gaze turned upwards to meet his own, without loosening her tight grasp around his ribs. "Did you find your friends?"

He chuckled mirthlessly. "No, I'm alone."

Lilinette promptly kicked him in the shin, gaining a sore foot for her trouble. Ichigo looked down at her, one brow raised.

"You're not alone, idiot," she barked, releasing him and hopping on one foot. "You've got Stark and me!"

A small smile pulled the orange haired boy's lips. "I suppose you're right." Ichigo's yellow eyes found Stark's, who abandoned his sloth for an intense soulful stare. The teen huffed embarrassedly. "We should get going before the shinigami catch up to me."

With a crackle of breaking dimensions, the trio returned to the white desert.


	2. Chapter 2

Stark had never been one to measure time. There was no point to it in the vast wastelands of Hueco Mundo. Never the less, he guessed that a few decades at least must have passed since he came to follow Ichigo. Initially the orange haired boy had tried to keep a calendar of sorts, even going so far as to keep a sheaf of bound paper up his sleeve to jot down ideas and lists. However, he would inevitably become frustrated and scribble out whatever he had been writing.

Stark found it interesting to watch the delicate paper eventually yellow and crumble with age, having been taken from the human realm. Ichigo had shown reluctance to return to Soul Society, for which the arrancar was silently grateful.

When Lilinette asked what he was doing, he sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm not good at planning stuff out," he said, accompanied by a scowl. "And history has never been that interesting to me, what with everything else that was going on in the present."

At her confused expression, he smiled and patted her head. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

She wriggled and batted at his hand. "I'm not a little kid!" Despite her wining, Stark could feel the bubble of contentment she felt whenever the teen treated her in such a sisterly fashion.

Once, to break the monotony, Ichigo had asked Stark if he wanted to spar. The dark haired arrancar dubiously accepted at Lilinette's urging. One half hearted game of blade banging later, and Stark knew that even if he summoned his cero-wolf pack, he would not do more than annoy the powerful being before him.

That didn't stop his green haired partner from giving him a sound verbal thrashing for not trying hard enough, before nagging Ichigo to teach her some of his fancy sword skills.

Stark was just relieved that he could spend the time sleeping. His dreams were full of Lilinette's unbridled joy, pot marked by small frustrated bubbles when she failed to land a hit on her sparing partner.

Then one day her contentment was shattered by a bold of terror. Stark woke from his bed in a sand dune, reshi already charging in the air around him, when her fear calmed to curiosity.

The arrancar searched for his companions, who he was relieved to see were still in his line of sight on the hard packed earth not too far away.

A third dark figure with writhing tentacled lay on the ground before them. Evidentially this creature was what had frightened the girl so badly. She was currently huddled behind Ichigo's back, her fists clutching his black clothing as she peered around his leg at the strange being on the ground.

Stark buzzed over for a closer look. Lilinette immediately ran to his side for comfort.

"It tried to eat me!" she hissed angrily. "Then Ichigo kicked it, and it's tentacles went away."

He rested a hand on her helmet to quiet her rant before it gained momentum, and focused on the thing before him.

The creature looked just like Ichigo, albeit with black hair and green eyes instead of gold. Stark scented the air discreetly. It definitely smelled of hollow, but it was as if that was covered in a shinigami shell. The arrancar eyed it with more interest.

"Who are you," Ichigo's stern voice broke his pondering.

The creature glared at him in confusion, mouth contorted in pain as it clutched a bleeding wound on its stomach.

"Metastacia," it, Stark tentatively labeled it as a hollow when it's eyes bled black, clutched it's head. "No! No- I - I'm Kaien. Shiba Kaien."

The hollow curled closer around itself, internally struggling. Stark supposed it might have been a very young adjucas trying to overcome the various voices in its head and remain as the dominant personality. That didn't explain the human appearance though, or the lack of a mask.

Suddenly it flung itself at Ichigo's feet. "Please, I see your zanpakuto! Please kill me!"

Lilinette blanched, but Stark held her tightly.

Ichigo seemed unconcerned. "You've already been stabbed by a shinigami. Why do you think my sword will work?"

"Rukia mostly purified the hollow, but it hid itself deep inside me. It's using my powers to shield itself. Please, just kill me! I can't let it escape!"

The teen hummed in his throat. Walking over, he laid a hand on the brunette's head. Stark stiffened as he felt the normally ineffable reatsu sea around Ichigo sharpen and focus to a point. The man froze, held in place by the pressure.

"I won't kill you, Shiba Kaien. Or at least, not yet. You're going to go into your inner world and kill what's taking over your soul. Do you understand?"

"Please," his voice trailed off.

Ichigo scowled. "I didn't think the thirteenth division's vice-captain would be so weak."

Suddenly the green eyed hollow scowled to match his orange haired captors. His breath evened out and his gaze became blank.

"What's he doing?" Lilinette ventured to ask.

Ichigo released the hollow, his reitsu returning to an unattainable range. "He's fighting his inner hollow."

Stark frowned. "What if he loses?"

The teen sat back carelessly in the sand. "Then I'll fulfill his request." Then lowly, under his breath, Stark heard him mutter. "It's the least I can do for Rukia."

The teen walked to a sand dune and settled into a crossed legged seated pose Stark had seen him adopt before. The black chained sword lay across his knees contemplatively.

The creature, Kaien or Metastacia or whatever, had begun thrashing on the ground. Great wounds slashed across it's chest, expelling a white substance which hardened into bone, before shattering.

Lilinette wrinkled her nose. She wasn't used to hearing screams this close, what with her and Stark's former problem containing their power. Since joining Ichigo, the few hollows dumb enough to attack them didn't have enough time to make a sound before being neatly dispatched. The show was enough of a novelty to hold her attention.

"He said your sword was a zanpakuto," Stark said lowly, taking a seat beside him. Lilinette opted to continue watching the strange transformation taking place on the flat ground.

Ichigo reverently laid a hand on the blade. "Yes, or he was. Zangetsu...isn't inside anymore."

"That was it's name?"

Long orange hair fell to shadow the boy's face. "Yes. It was."

An echo of longing and loneliness rang in his companion's words. Stark didn't understand what a zanpakuto meant to a shinigami, let alone whatever Ichigo was, but he understood that tone.

"I'm sorry," he rumbled.

"It was my choice," the teen said. His gaze met the hollow's with a rueful grin. "Who would have thought that I would miss the voices in my head?"

From this Stark supposed that having a zanpakuto must be like being an adjucas, and couldn't understand why someone would miss the roaring sea of voices either. He nodded sagely.

Ichigo laughed.

"Hey! Hey!" Lilinette scrambled to their perch on the sand dune. "Hey! He stopped moving! Is he dead?"

She pointed over her shoulder to the creature, whose cries had fallen deathly silent as his body stilled. In one smooth motion, Ichigo stood, sword casually held aloft as he walked towards it.

"Kaien, you in there?" he called at the unmoving figure.

A crack split across the white shell, dissolving into a fine powder to reveal a crouched humanoid figure on the ground. Its scent had calmed from the sour pinch of struggling power to a frenzied calm. Stark might have compared it to a calm within a storm, had he ever experienced that particular weather phenomenon.

The figure's head tilted up, revealing a white mask with blacked out eyes lined with bright blue swirls. A sinister smile of serrated shark teeth ponderously crossed the mask's bottom, and spiky fins curved back from the mask's sides to curl in the shaggy black hair.

It stood, still quite naked, and faced the trio.

Stark covered Lilinette's eyes. She squealed in protest, but he ignored her. They had kept the green furred hollow hide, even after Ichigo had stolen them some cloths. The arrancar had been using it as bedding, but decided that it should return to its former purpose as clothing. He kicked the bundle towards the figure, who didn't react beyond catching it. Still, it covered enough for Stark to release his other half's eyes.

"Kaien?" Ichigo called again, more tensely this time. "How do you feel?"

"I-," it moved listlessly, life returning to its body as it cast about in confusion. "I feel-"

Suddenly the figure seized and fell to its knees. The mask on its face shattered, leaving behind only the curling fins.

Stark was just glad that it collapsed underneath the cloak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Stark refers to Kaien as 'it' because Metastacia has no gender, or if it did would smell female, since it had just killed Kaiens wife not too long ago. Therefore hollow-Kaien-Metastacia would smell both male and female, therefore would, to Stark, be neither.
> 
> When Kaien's mask shattered, some was left behind. Make of that plot point what y


	3. Chapter 3

The creature, Kaien, was...exuberant. A character trait Stark did not have any experience managing.

After awakening after its evolution into...Stark tentatively labeled him as an arrancar, Kaien had latched onto Ichigo with a frantic fervor which put Stark's teeth on edge. He didn't particularly care (more friends were always a good thing, right?), but Lilinette took personal insult whenever Ichigo's attention diverted from her.

Ichigo didn't seem to notice the way she clung to his sleeve, nor how she would periodically attack the other arrancar for the smallest of comments.

Kaien thought it was adorable, and would often lament how he didn't have any candy to give her, all the while holding her growling clawing self off with one hand.

Stark would have been able to tolerate the arrancar for its good humor, had he not periodically sunk into a deep depression for reasons which Stark found too confusing to contemplate.

The strange emotions began one day when Ichigo and Kaien had been sparing to pass the time. The former lieutenant was glad that he had managed to maintain his zanpakuto through his transformation into a partial hollow, but on this occasion wanted to see whether his released hollow form could grant him an edge against his orange haired opponent.

Ichigo had agreed with a shrug.

Kaien, in the instinctual way all arrancar know, shouted the phrase to unlock his sealed powers.

That was apparently when things went wrong, but neither Stark nor Lilinette could pinpoint the exact moment. All they knew was that some dust was kicked up when Kaien transformed and the other hollow's scent changed.

They didn't think that was a reason to freak out the way Kaien did, but Lilinette theorized it was because the arrancar had once been a shinigami.

"After all, shinigami are really weird. Not like us," she hissed to her partner.

Stark agreed, but as everyone in their little pack had some semblance of the powers of a death god somewhere about their person, he knew better than to voice it, lest he accidentally upset someone.

Anyway, once the dust had settled, Kaien's released form was revealed. The fins of the mask had extended over Kaien's head like a veil of whipping tentacles. White armor extended over a thin chest and continued down to accentuate the delicate curves of Kaien's lower body. Hands and feet had gained a quality similar to a bird's talon, complete with wicked claws. More tentacles extended from Kaien's back, tipped with sharp looking barbs.

As far as forms went, Stark didn't think it looked too bad.

Kaien was preoccupied though.

"I'm a WOMAN?" the former shinigami shrieked, instinctively moving to cover her voluptuous chest which threatened to escape their artfully covering bindings. The tentacles in her hair matched her motion and twined protectively over her body like a writhing blanket.

Ichigo's mouth twitched. "What's wrong Kaien?"

The former lieutenant rounded on him, eyes wild. "Why is my released form a woman?"

"Hey calm down," the teen raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. His lips twitched again. "It's hard to tell time here, but it's not your time of the month is it?"

Kaien's eyes flashed fire as Ichigo broke down in laughter.

"That's IT! You're DEAD!" she screamed, before launching herself at him with a vengeance.

"See, weird!" Lilinette hissed in Stark's ear. "Kaien smelled like a boy and a girl when we first met. Why is she like this now that she's only one? She wasn't like this when she was a man."

Stark shrugged. "Maybe she's just surprised that she didn't stay a boy."

The green haired girl wrinkled her nose. "I guess, but why is she still screaming? I don't freak out when I turn into a boy in our released state."

He hummed and patted her mask. "You're just stronger than Kaien."

She huffed and crossed her arms. "Obviously!"

They watched as Kaien finally ran herself to exhaustion and collapsed, her white appendages vanishing as she once again became male.

Ichigo, not even breathing hard, looked at him with academic interest.

"Was the hollow you combined with female?" the teen fought to keep a straight face. "That would explain why you...change when accessing the hollow powers you absorbed from it."

Kaien raised his head from where it pillowed in the sand. "I don't know? When it possessed my body, I thought it sounded like a man, but before that it possessed other people like..."

His blue eyes went wide.

Stark sensed the buildup of spiritual power and had the presence of mind to wrap an arm around Lilinette to prevent her from being lost in the sand. Then the explosion erupted, with Kaien at its epicenter.

A wave of sand engulfed the surrounding dessert. Stark considered blasting it away, but that would have taken more effort than simply digging himself and his partner free. Lilinette complained at his laziness, and made sure to elbow him repeatedly as they dug themselves free. When the duo finally emerged, it was to find Kaien and Ichigo once again facing off against one another.

"I hate him! I hate him! I HATE HIM!" the dark haired arrancar screamed, his voice descending from humanity into a guttural howl. His eyes bled to black around the sclera, and his fingers gained a claw like quality.

Stark briefly wondered where this desperate well of power had come from, considering a few moments earlier the arrancar had barely been able to stand.

"Stop it," Ichigo said, either not noticing or not acknowledging the hurricane of reitsu whirling around him. "You need to calm down."

"I CAN'T!" partially hollowfied creature bellowed. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO ME? DO YOU KNOW THE THING I'VE BEEN TURNED INTO?"

"Who is he? What happened Kaien?"

"That BASTARD AIZEN! HE, he..." Here Kaien broke down, his body curling in on itself as he collapsed face first into the sand.

The unnatural winds ceased, granting Stark a better view of the proceedings. Lilinette grumbled something about sand getting under her mask, but watched with interest as well.

"Aizen," Ichigo's tone could have iced the ocean.

"That bastard," Kaien's voice sounded more raw than his previous screaming warranted, as if something choked his throat before the words could form. "He's experimenting on hollows... he created Metastacia to, to-"

A sob clawed its way from his throat. "It ate my WIFE! Absorbed her power, her- everything! I can see it in my head, when it slaughtered her and the others! It - I - They're all apart of me now! She's apart of me now! I don't even know what I am anymore!"

"You are Shiba Kaien. No change you go through will change that," Ichigo spoke with conviction, and Stark wondered if his friend spoke from experience. "If anything tries to tell you differently, even if that thing is yourself, you beat them back and keep moving forward."

"Your philosophy leaves much to be desired," whispered the older man. Never the less, he slid into a slumped seat, eyes once again clear blue and white. "I'm going to kill him for what he did."

Ichigo waived a hand absently. "Don't bother; you're not strong enough. I've got it handled."

A gleam of understanding lit in the former lieutenant's eye. "You're planning on killing too, him aren't you. Why? What did he do to you?"

Ichigo mad no reply, but his hand tightened around his sword imperceptibly. The silence was enough for Kaien to draw his own conclusions.

"Metastacia knew some things about what Aizen was doing," he pressed. "If you're dumb enough to go charging in there, I don't care how strong you are, it will be easier if you have an inside man. I could pretend to be Metastacia and sneak in. I have all his memories..." he gulped, but carried on, "it shouldn't be too hard."

"I'm not planning of sneaking in again," he said at last. "It's not my style."

"You don't get it though," the former lieutenant pressed. "Even if you do kill him, there's a whole army of hollows waiting to back him up. He's bound to have hidden rooms for his hidden rooms. How are you supposed to kill him if you can't even find him?"

The teen glanced sideways at the older man. "You seem to have thought about this a lot."

Kaien grinned thinly. "I was apart of a para-military organization for a few dozen decades. This is all standard espionage procedure." He stared humorlessly at his hands, dark shadows in his eyes. "Never thought I would be the one doing it instead of guarding against it though."

Ichigo crossed his arms with a huff. "Fine, whatever. Go do what you want."

Kaien's forced good humor snapped and he leapt to his feet, rounding on Ichigo. "Look, I know I'm not as strong as you or mister lone wolf over there, but I can still be useful! I can't-" his voice cracked, "I WON'T be a useless fixture wandering around the desert until you get your arse in gear and slay the bastard!"

A still clawed finger poked the amused teen in the chest. "I'm going to Las Noches, I'm going to help you orchestrate the murder of a tyrant, and damn it you are going to accept that help, small as it may be, with grace and thankfulness!"

The two were practically nose to nose, throwing their features into sharp relief against each other. Not for the first time Stark noticed how similar the two looked, and wondered if whatever-manner-of-spiritual-being-Ichigo-was was capable of having relatives among the shinigami.

Ichigo frowned and pushed Kaien's hand away. "I said do what you want. I'm not your captain, I'm not going to stop you."

He began to turn away, but paused to throw a last comment over his shoulder. "If you get captured, I expect you to be just as thankful as you expect me to be when I go to save your arse."

A dark chuckle burst from the hollow's throat. "Don't worry Ichigo, I'll be careful." He wrapped his green furred cloak more tightly around himself and headed in the opposite direction as his companion.

Stark watched him leave, an uncomfortable twisting in his gut. Lilinette was clutching his hand tightly, her teeth worrying her bottom lip anxiously. He bumped his shoulder against hers comfortingly, before pulling them both from the ground to follow Ichigo.

The trio walked in silence for long after Kaien had vanished in the sands.

"Ichigo?" Lilinette's hesitant voice broke the air.

The teen blinked, as if unearthing himself from deep thoughts, and looked at her with a gentle smile. "Yes Lilinette?"

"Are you angry at Kaien?"

He huffed. "A little; but that's just because he's doing what I would have done if I were in his position."

"Oh," she bit her lip harder. "You're not going to kill him are you?"

Ichigo looked shocked. "Why do you thin I would do that Lilinette?"

Tears pricked the corners of the girl's eyes. "Because he d-didn't listen to you?"

"I would never kill someone for not listening to me." His eyes raised to glare accusingly at Stark. "What have you been telling her?"

The older arrancar met his gaze unflinchingly. "We're hollows. This is Hueco Mundo. That is how things are done."

Ichigo huffed out a growl and bent to one knee till he was on eye level with the girl. "Lilinette, listen to me. I would NEVER hurt you or Kaien or Stark. You're all my friends. Do you understand?"

She sniffed and wrapped her arms around his neck for a hug. With practiced ease, the teen picked her up and continued walking.

Stark felt the whir of emotions shared between his and Lilinette's hearts calm, as fantom warmth settled across his limbs. Soon the little girl, already exhausted from tears and worry, fell asleep to the gentle rocking gate of her companions.

"What do you think of all this Stark? You've been awfully quiet."

"His information could be useful," Stark said. "If he manages to stay alive."

Ichigo shrugged, careful not to disturb the sleeper in his arms. "I already know what I'm going to do and the best time to do it. As long as that idiot doesn't do anything stupid, everything should work out."

Then, so quietly under his breath that Stark might have missed it, Ichigo breathed, "I hope."

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> As always, I love reviews. :3
> 
> ...
> 
> A/N:Well, that escalated quickly. I was tossing around the idea of a gender disphoric Kaien, then all this angst happened. My goodness, I apologize!
> 
> Eventually he will get over the whole 'being a girl' thing, but will still flinch when he realizes that the reason he is a girl is because Metastacia ate his wife (as well as many other shinigami). My head cannon says Metastacia keeps the traits of its last meal, meaning that it was female before trying to possess Kaien.
> 
> So, Stark and Lilinette really don't understand gender. First, hollows don't reproduce (from what we know) therefore therefore the business end of gender wouldn't mean anything. Second, they are the same being and recombine periodically into a distinctly male form, despite the fact that Lilinette is female. If they turned into a girl, Stark wouldn't batt an eye. After all, their original form before they split could have been a woman for all they know. Therefore, they don't get why Kaien is freaking out. Also: hollow. Eating your friends is a normal thing. Kaien is now a hollow, why is he still feeling guilty and depressive?
> 
> ...
> 
> So that scene where Lili is asking if Ichi is angry at Kaien, this is all that when through my head:
> 
> Lili: Mommy and Daddy are fighting again!
> 
> Stark: Ah, don't worry! They still love each other! They're just having a disagreement! Mommy will be back soon (I hope), then we can be a big happy family again!
> 
> Ichi: "..."
> 
> ...
> 
> Also, I see Ichigo being the best big brother/ proxy-mother figure to his little sisters. Lilinette has entered that circle of people she shares that sensitive side with.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


	4. Chapter 4

For some reason, after Kaien left to play double agent, Ichigo began asking Stark to take him to the human realm on a semi-regular basis.

The orange haired being would immediately vanish to conduct some business or other, leaving his friends to their own devices.

The arrancar didn't mind, as it meant he could sleep under the pleasant warmth of the sun instead of the eerie crescent moon for a change. Lilinette enjoyed playing in the grass, though occasionally she would look with longing at the large colorfully painted park jungle gyms constructed by the humans. They dared not approach closer than the outskirts of the large sprawling city, lest their presence prove detrimental to the humans (an outcome Ichigo expressed his distaste for) or alert the shinigami.

Ichigo, with his ineffable spiritual powers, apparently didn't need to worry about either of those problems during his walks through the city. He seemed at least peripherally aware of his companion's isolation, though, and would bring back little stolen pieces of candy and ribbons for Lilinette to taste and braid into her sleeping partner's hair.

Stark only minded when his hair got too sticky, either from her candy covered hands or unfortunate attempts at styling his locks with sugar.

It was during one of these pleasantly sunlit excursions that Stark felt a change in the atmosphere of the city. The air became heavy with malice, and Stark, for the first time, felt his breath stutter in fear for his continued existence. Instincts he never knew he had growled and whimpered through his mind, raising his hackles. His hands twitched to open a garganta back to Hueco Mundo, where he could easily hide himself in the wastes.

Something soft pressed against him, breaking him free of the urge run. Lilinette was curled at his side in a shivering ball, though she seemed less panicked than her partner. Through their bond small waves of worry emanated from her, calming his instinctual terror.

"It's Ichigo," she breathed, gaze fixed on the city in the distance. "This is how he felt when Kaien attacked me...but it's much, much bigger."

The older arrancar wrapped her in his arms and tried to reorient his breathing. He was not accustomed to being scared, and having his instincts overwhelm him like that for the first time in his memory shook him badly.

Lilinette elbowed his sternum. "Stop being a scardey cat! Ichigo wouldn't hurt us!"

Stark supposed she was right, and the pure belief in the statement rang through her being so strongly he couldn't help but believe them too.

"We should prepare to leave as soon as he gets back," he rumbled. "The shinigami are sure to have noticed something, even if it was just every hollow in the country fleeing the human realm."

She mumbled her agreement, and settled back against Stark's chest, pointedly not mentioning how he was cuddling her like a teddy bear.

The sun was low when the girl spied an orange haired figure clothed in black ambling towards where they sat. She hesitated before breaking free of Stark's arms to go greet him. Ichigo's scent was heavily layered with a bitter sweet tang she couldn't place, but it burned her nose.

"Ichigo," she said, hanging back from her usual enthusiastic hug and begging for treats. "We felt something happen. Are you... all right?"

"There was a hollow attacking a woman and her son by a river," he said airily, delirious smile stretched in a bloodthirsty slash across his face. "I stopped it." Hysterical laughter bubbled bubbled from the depths of the boy's soul, and he threw his head back to the heavens, unable to contain the spasms which wracked his frame.

"Oh, that's, uh, good I guess." Lilinette backed up a step, and bumped into something. She tilted her head, as saw Stark has stood as well. Concern matching Lilinette's own coiled through him.

His blue eyes stared at their friend, calculatingly. "Ichigo," he said, voice pitched low. "What happened?"

The teen had sunk to his knees, raucous laughter fading to dark chuckles.

"I- I-" he broke off laughing again. "I just changed that kids life so much, and- and-" His shoulders shook uncontrollably. "And he's never gonna know what could have happened. He'll never need to know that. Never! And I-" he trailed off chuckling.

"Are you drunk?" Lilinette asked in disbelief. Stark frowned, wondering where she had picked up that term. Perhaps he shouldn't let her read so many of the discarded magazines and newspapers they had found lying about. The sharp scent intensified as he leaned towards her.

"Maybe," Ichigo shrugged, a dopy grin on his lips. "I know where Old Goat-Face kept the good sake, and just took all the bottles when I went to check on my...on them."

"We should get away from here," Stark said, still watching the teen closely. "The Shinigami are probably already here."

Ichigo nodded, and pulled himself to his feet after the third try. Stark moved to the teen's side, wrapping one arm around his torso to support him, while opening a garganta with the other.

Later, after the trio had settled safely back in the sands, Lilinette turned to Stark. "Is he gonna be all right?"

He hummed, casting a ponderous gaze at the sleeping figure between them. Stark had no experience dealing with intoxicants of any kind (except for that one hollow who released an air born powder which, when the wind carried it towards them, made he and Lilinette all giggly. He didn't remember much of the event). The arrancar shrugged. "I guess we'll know when he wakes up."

Lilinette frowned, but settled in the sand, unmoving in her vigil over the sleeping teenager. Stark sat as well, but let his gaze wonder over the dunes for any sign of other hollows. After all, it wouldn't do to have Ichigo wake up until he had slept off the effects of his...uncharacteristic mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Review Replies:
> 
> ...
> 
> Amerika Knight: Where have you been all my life?
> 
> A/N: Right here, waiting for you baby. ;)
> 
> ...
> 
> katz v. courage: Nel?
> 
> A/N: wait till next chapter.
> 
> ...
> 
> Nachtenelke: Why did Stark think ichi would kill them in ch 3?
> 
> A/N: Stark tells Ichi, "this is hueco mundo." Using Barrigan and Grimjow as example of hollows who are leaders of other groups of hollows, then insubordination is dealt with via quick and painful death. Stark and Lili accept that behavior as natural. Ichigo, having human morality, is suitable disgusted that they would think that of him.
> 
> ...
> 
> Reign of Rayne: Are zngetsu and ichi's holow going to come back?
> 
> A/N: The story is told from Stark's perspective, so even if they did come back (which I don't really have any plans to do, sorry) I don't think he would know.


	5. Chapter 5

After the...incident, Ichigo's restlessness calmed, and his normally stoic countenance seemed to focus with a new determined fervor flecked with moments of giddy anticipation.

"Have we heard anything from Kaien?" the teen asked Stark, as the trio stood atop a wind blown sand dune.

The arrancar shook his head. "He might have been killed by Aizen's forces."

Ichigo hummed in his throat. "We should move closer to Las Noches to keep an eye on things."

"What about the human world," Lilinette broke in, "are we gonna go back there? It's been a long time since we were there last, and I want more candy!"

Ichigo knocked a fist on her head, looking at her flatly. "You don't need any more brat." A flicker of fond amusement curled the corners of his mouth. "Besides, nothing should happen in the human world for now. Nothing will happen at all, if everything works out how I've planned."

She growled cutely and flailed, till his hand fell away. She leapt upon her partner next. "Stark, make him get me candy!"

The brunette sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Leave me out of it."

"You're so boring!" She huffed angrily and kicked him in the shin. Stark winced. "Ouch."

"Oh no, Stark!" Ichigo said dramatically, "Who dealt you such a grievous injury? I shall avenge you!"

The teen caught the little girl around her middle, and mercilessly began tickling her.

"Ah! No stop it!" she laughed, desperately wriggling from his grasp to land in a heap upon the sand.

"Oh no, my prey has escaped!" he grinned, lowering his voice in a mock menacing manner.

Lilinette screamed and buzzed away in a sonido, Ichigo followed in hot pursuit, keeping his own speed low enough for her to easily out run. Stark sighed and let himself settle to the ground for a nap.

Much later, his sleep was interrupted by a sharp surge of surprise cutting through the back of his mind. His eyes snapped open, and he sat up. His companions had long since abandoned him while they played, but he could faintly feel Lilinette somewhere off to his right. Their soul connection made it so they could never truly lose each other, but she still always made a point to never stray out of his sensing range.

Stark wasn't picking up any fear from her, in fact her surprise was slowly bubbling away to form a sweet mixture of delight and mischief. The arrancar sighed; that probably would not lead to anything good.

Lilinette apparently sensed his dread, as she sent him the emotional equivalent of sticking out her tongue, before trying to mask her emotions from him. He frowned and got to his feet. Best to nip any trouble she might cause in the bud...or at least be there to see what happened. With a quick sonido, he buzzed away across the sand.

Sensing his approach, the green haired girl's emotions quickened with urgency. Stark slowed half a step to give her more time for ...whatever she was planning. They had never held secrets from one another. This experience was novel. He was curious how it would play out.

He stopped behind a white dune and peered around to the other side. Several meters to his right, he could spy Lilinette doing the same thing. She chuckled, and ducked behind the sand to whisper something, before popping back to cackle at her victim.

In the valley created by the sandy dunes, Ichigo had his hands over his eyes and was counting.

"Ninety-nine," he called, "One hundred! Ready or not, here I come!"

Just as the orange haired teen removed his hands from his eyes, two green haired blurs rocketed over the top of the nearby sand dune and tackled him. Ichigo, not expecting the combined weight of two bodies, toppled to the ground.

"Ha!" crowed Lilinette triumphantly. "Got you!"

Ichigo groaned through a mouthful of white grains. "I thought we were plying hide and seek, without reitsu sensing."

"I changed my mind," she declared imperiously. "We're now playing Endless Tag! My new friend told me about it!"

Here she gestured to the small rag clad body grinning madly beside her. Stark blinked. What were the odds that another green haired little girl would appear in Hueco Mundo?

"Endleth Tag is Greath!" the tiny child chirped through the wide gap in her front teeth.

Ichigo, who had by this time managed to lever himself into a sitting position, blinked at the two girls now seated in his lap.

"You're name is Nel, isn't it?"

"Yesth!" the tiny arrancar lisped. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," he brushed the comment off. "How long have you been in the desert, Nel?"

She shrugged. "Oh, ageth and ageth."

Ichigo's eyes grew calculating. "Hm, Lilinette, why don't you see if your new friend knows any more games?"

The taller girl huffed for a moment, but obligingly pulled Nel away, allowing the orange haired teen to stand.

"Stark," he called, leaving the two green haired girls to play in the sand, in favor of joining the oldest arrancar behind the sand dune. "It seems the time has come for my long awaited battle."

The dark haired man stared at him. "You're not leaving us behind."

A small smile blossomed on the teen's face.

"Let's do this then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> A/N: Yeah, I realize I went a bit OOC there for a bit. Before you call me out, here's my thought process: The desert is boring, and it has only been the three of them wandering around for god knows how long. Despite what fandom will tell you, Ichigo cannot angst forever. Lilinette is about nine (since Ichigo's sisters are 9 or 10yrs old in the manga, and Lili is drawn to look similar to their age) thus very much still a child. Also, Ichigo has A+ parenting and A++ big brother skills, so when he noticed how she basically didn't know how to have fun, I see him turning a bit silly over the decades to entertain her. That includes tickle wars and hide and seek.
> 
> Also, this was very much a filler chapter, because I needed a way to knock off six years fast and get the party to Las Noches.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


	6. Chapter 6

In the distance, just out of sight, Stark could feel a high concentration of powerful hollows. Once, before he became apart of Ichigo's pack, he might have longed to be apart of this strange conglomerate, for surely at least one would be able to stand amid his stifling power.

Now, however, he only gave the idea of more friends a passing thought. He wasn't alone any more, and would fight loyally to keep the one who rescued him from that fate well and happy.

Of course, Ichigo did not know about the emotional hold he had over his companions. Stark never bothered telling the teen, as he doubted it would change their relationship in any way.

The arrancar took a deep breath, scenting the air. Outside of the high concentration of individuals in the palace of Las Noches, the area was speckled with patrols. The group of three had been spying on the lookouts, taking notes of their patterns and where they entered and exited the enormous structure.

When asked why the subterfuge was necessary, Ichigo muttered something about not wanting to deal with blasting holes in the wall again.

Nel had vanished a few months ago, much to Lilinette's sorrow and every one else's relief, to find someone she called 'Don' and 'Pesche.'

Stark had asked Ichigo if it was a good idea to let her go, as she could be a spy as well, but Ichigo shook his head.

"Nel is not our enemy," he said, a slight smile tugging the corner of his mouth. "She wouldn't betray us to Aizen."

The arrancar blanched at such a trusting attitude, but chalked it up to Ichigo's ability to read character, and let it go.

Stark scented the air again, before turning to his companions. "The sand hollow just left this area. We have about a minute before his replacement gets into range. She injured her leg on her last patrol, and is moving more slowly for it."

The orange haired teen nodded, scowl plastered full force on his face. "Let's go then. If we slip inside the front gates, it should be a straight shot to the throne room from there."

"That's optimistic," Lilinette grumbled, frustrated at having to sit bored in the same spot for weeks on end.

Ichigo ignore her. His hand flexed with red and black power as he pulled it across his face, leaving behind a white mask with two black stripes over the eyes.

"You have a hollow mask?" Lilinette asked in awe.

The boy shrugged. "I've not needed it till now." He traced the edges of it absently. "Oh, and while we're in Las Noches, don't call me Ichigo."

"Why?"

"It wouldn't be good if I was recognized."

Lilinette scoffed. "Like they could hurt you!"

"Oh, I didn't mean that it would be bad for me. They just might, uh, mistake me for someone else."

"What should we call you?" Stark said, interrupting Lilinette's stream if inquiries.

Ichigo cast about, till his eyes landed on his black sword. "...Mugetsu. Call me Mugetsu."

Silent as a breeze, the trio dashed to the enormous great gate, Lilinette tucked safely under Stark's arm so as not to be left behind.

The gate guard barely noticed the slight disturbance of air, before the duo was through dashing along the twisting white halls.

Ichigo ducked into an alcove, Stark half a step behind. The arrancar could hear soft footfalls coming down the hall. He looked down at his leader for instruction. Lilinette hung limply under his arm, uncharacteristically compliant with being manhandled.

The teen held a finger to his lips. Stark nodded and slunk back into what would have been shadows in a normal hall. Here, though, everything burned with a fluorescent white.

The steps gradually grew louder, till they sounded directly beside the alcove.

Quick as a flash, Ichigo flipped himself around the corner and tackled the footstep's owner against the far wall, an arm against it's throat.

Stark heard a moment of quiet struggle, and shifted himself until he had a clear view of the preceedings.

"Wait! Wait! It's me you idiot!" the captive gasped.

"Kaien?" Stark was sure he heard a current of relief under the flat tone Ichigo said his captive's name. The teen released the arrancar's throat.

The dark haired man flailed till he was free, and set about straightening his clothes. "Hello, yes, it's nice to see you too after all these years. Nice mask, by the way. Yes, thank you so much for asking how I've been trapped behind enemy lines like this-"

"Kaien," Ichigo interupted, "Where is the throne room."

The former shinigami paused, his face petulance falling away to reveal a dark seriousness.

"I was trying to find out how to contact you," he said, a dark glint in his eyes. "That bastard came back yesterday, said the war with soul society was about to get moving."

His head snapped to the side, fixing the teen with a piercing inhuman gaze. "What I don't get is how you found out."

Ichigo looked at him impassively. "I made a lucky guess."

Stark nearly growled at the searching look directed at his friend, but luckily (for him) Kaien turned away down the hall.

"Right. It's a good thing you guys snuck in. No alarm's been raised, so I can sneak you through some back corridors to where Aizen's hiding. I saw you three while I was monitoring the security cameras. Nice trick getting by the guards, you don't want to know what I did to get those idiots on the patrol roster, seriously they couldn't see an army approaching until it was already past them. Anyway, no one is currently watching the cameras, and I made sure to lock the door behind me, so no one should be inclined to check them. Your timing is perfct, as I'm hardly ever on monitor duty." He chuckled. "I guess your luck really is that good."

Stark walked around the corner. Kaien waved cheerily at him. Lilinette pulled her eyelids down and waggled her tongue at him. The former leutenant chuckled at her antics.

"Nice to see you again too Lili-chan!"

Ichigo crossed his arms impatiently. Kaien rolled his eyes. "Right, follow me. Quietly."

The group walked through the blinding halls, occasionally stopping to let Kaien check around corners and shoo away any wandering arrancar, though their way was unimpeded for the most part. Soon the narrow hallway opened to show an obscenely large white door.

Stark could sense three distinctly shinigami presences beyond, clustered closely together as if in conference.

"This is it," their guide said. "I'll guard the hall, in case he calls for backup," Kaien drew his sword with a florish. "Negibana is most useful for wide area attacks."

Ichigo nodded, eyes steely behind the pointed curling smile of his mask. "Thank you," he said, laying a hand on he former shinigami's shoulder.

Kaien grinned visciously. "Just kill him."

The teen nodded and turned to the arrancar pair. "He might have two companions with him. If they attack, I leave them to you to take care of."

Stark nodded and laid a hand on Lilinette's helmet resolutely. She looked up into his eyes and nodded, a determined frown on her face.

"Kick about, Los Lobos!"

Kaien whistled in appreciation at Stark's pistols and grey furred outfit lining a blue jacket which matched the color of his previous clothing.

Ichigo made to push the door open, but one of Stark's guns lashed out. "Let us!" is called in Lilinette's voice. The orange haired teen blinked and stepped back.

A blue cero formed immediately at the weapon's tip, blasting the door down in a flashy display of light, before continuing on into the depths of the throne room where it exploded, kicking up a wall of debris.

The smoke cleared unnaturally quickly, pushed down by the spiritual pressure of their opponents, revealing hundreds of black pillars holding up a ceiling which vanished into dark obscurity. A massive white block stood in the room's epicenter, atop which was perched an intimidating angular stone throne.

One figure sat lazily in the chair, head propped amusedly on an arm of the throne. On the left a dark skinned man with white eyes scowled at the intruders, while to the left a silver haired man grinned perpetually.

"We appear to have visitors," the silver haired man said. "And they broke our new door too."

"Who are you?" the other man said, pale eyes narrowing in disgust.

Ichigo made no effort to answer as he and Stark approached the dais. Casually, he raised his black sword and swept it through the air. The white block upon which the throne sat sliced neatly in two, forcing the three shinigami to leap from the crumbling structure to safety. They landed neatly in front of where the throne once stood. The brunet no longer looked patiently bored.

"That was seki-seki stone," his piercing brown gaze focused on Ichigo. "How did you mannage to cut it?"

The orange haired being mad no reply, as he continued to steadily traverse the massive room, closing in on his prey.

The dark skinned man growled. "You will speak when Aizen-sama addresses you!"

"Be at peace, Tosen," the newly identified Aizen said placidly. "We have yet to introduce ourselves to our new friend."

Ichigo stopped ten feet from the trio, Stark half a step behind him. The arrancar's blue eyes studied his two opponents, noting the unfocused blindness of Tosen's gaze, and the minute twitch towards his sword that the silver haired man's hand made. He would take him out first.

The lord of Las Noches smiled at them in a polite friendly manner, despite the calculating glint in his eyes. "I am Souske Aizen. Why have you broken down my door?"

Ichigo raised his black sword to point at the shinigami's throat. "I am Mugetsu, and I am going to defeat you."

The silver shinigami moved to draw his sword, but Stark fired three consecutive shots, plowing the man through several pillars. Tosen snarled and drew his sword.

"Let me handle this intruder, Aizen-sama!" Holding the sword in his right hand and placing his left palm against the ten rings on the sword's cross guard, the shinigami shouted.

"Bankai, Cricket Final Form: Devil Cricket!"

The ring began to spin, growing larger and larger until it encompased himself. The shinigami slashed his sword, sending the rings flying outward.

Stark dodged them easliy, wondering if that was all there was to the attack. Then the dark bubble followed, entrapping him in complete inpenetrable black.

He couldn't see. The sounds of his opponent, as well as the battle Ichigo must be waging against Aizen were lost in the fuzzy void where noise should have been. Even his ability to perceive other spiritual presences had become useless.

He was alone.

Panic seized him, fluttering like a bird just below his hollow hole.

Had the last many years been a dream? Was he still in the dessert lone? Perhaps that explosion had burried him, and he was now lying under the supressive sands of Hueco Mundo.

He was alone.

There was nothing.

A sharp pain smacked against the side of his head. Reflexively, his fists tightened around the grips of his guns.

Lilinette, he could feel her annoyance in the back of his mind. She was still there. Everything was real, he was in the middle of a battle, this was just a tick of his opponent.

Stark let himself breathe.

So, his opponent thought to cripple him by hiding himself. As if something like that could stop him. He could feel Lilinette's delight as he focused his power. Blue shimmered across the arrancar's skin and exploded outwards in every direction as thousands of tiny concentrated cero.

The darkness lifted, bringing along with it the scents of gritty dust, blood, and charred flesh.

Panting at the enormous energy expenditure, Stark looked around. His opponent's burnt corpse lay unrecognizable on the stone floor. His attack has also destroyed a significant portion of the pillars in the hall.

In the distance beside more destroyed pillars, Stark could see Ichigo's spot of orange hair, his grinning mask still in place. The scent of blood was strongest in that area. As if sensing his gaze, the young man looked up and over at his companion.

In a moment, Stark flashed across the battle ground to the black clad being's side. The arrancar noticed a few burn marks on his friend's torso, which smelled sharply of kido and electricity.

Lilinette rematerialized at his side, as Stark let his resurrection fade away back into his usual blue outfit.

Before either could speak, shakey footsteps broke the eerie silence. Stark raised his gun defensively, but Ichigo held out a hand to stop him.

"You killed Aizen," the silver haired shinigami gasped, shoulders shaking against the pillar. His clothing was torn and bloody, and his visible skin burned where Stark's cero had connected. "All those years of planning, and some guy just waltzes in and chops his head off!"

Ichigo calmly flicked the blood from his sword. "Is that a problem, Ichimaru Gin?"

"No! Not at all!" the silver haired man laughed hysterically.

Ichigo lowered his blade. "What will you do now?"

"Are you going to kill me?" the former captain asked. The orange haired boy shook his head. Gin giggled. "Then I don't know! I never thought ahead past killing him. Honestly I never thought I would live that long."

"I see."

"And what about you?" Gin's piercing blue eyes fixed on him, his hysteria silenced under heavy seriousness. "You've killed Aizen; are you planning on taking over his armies to storm Soul Society as well?"

Ichigo's expression was unreadable underneath the grinning porcelain mask. "No," he said after a thought filled moment. The silver haired man descended into hysterics once more.

Sparing one concerned look for the reaper, Ichigo allowed the black chain of his sword to wind securely around his waist in place of sheathing it. He knelt beside Aizen's corpse and began rooting through the pockets of his coat. His black gauntlet clinked against something small, and he carefully drew out a walnut sized grey sphere.

He contemplated the grey marble, before tucking it into an inner pocket of his coat. His gaze drifted across the throne room, before alighting on his companions.

"Stark," he said suddenly, "what do you want to do?"

The arrancar looked at him sharply.

Ichigo continued blandly. "All this time you've been following me while I waited to kill Aizen, and I've never asked what you wanted."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Maybe so I don't feel like such a bad friend," he shrugged. "Probably because what I planned to do afterwards is no longer possible for me, and I'm welcoming suggestions."

Stark frowned in confusion. "You've already given me what I want."

"Oh?"

"We thought we would die alone in that desert," Lilinette spoke up from his side. "Then you came along, and now I have Nel to play with too."

The boy's eyes softened in understanding. "I see." He tucked his hands into his pockets pensively. "Then, how would you two like to stay here with the other arrancar."

"Would you be here too?" she added hopefully.

"It's not like I have any other plans." Ichigo shrugged.

"What about him?" Stark nodded to the lunatic, whose laughter had subsided once more.

Ichigo's eyes darted to the silver man. "Gin is...on probation."

"If you plan on sticking around here," the former soul reaper said, "You should probably talk with the Espada. They're in charge of the different sections of arrancar."

The boy nodded. "Could you call them together?"

"An tell them Aizen's got his head cut off?" The chuckles were back. "It would be my pleasure!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Note:
> 
> Tosen couldn't actually sense Ichigo. He thought Stark was the only one there.
> 
> Also, sorry I haven't updated in forever! Now that Aizen's dead, I've got some fun plot to play with, so look forward to that!


	7. Chapter 7

It didn't take long for Gin to alert the espada to gather in what appeared to be a large conference room adjacent to the destroyed throne room. The shinigami requested that Ichigo and his companions wait outside while he informed the arrancar of the recent change in leadership. After a moment, ichigo was ushered into the room to sit at the head of a long white stone table lined with ten high backed and occupied chairs.

Stark stood behind his chair on the right, looking infinitely bored, while Gin stood to the left, sharp eyes scrutinizing the orange haired man's every move.

"Gin just said you killed Aizen," one of the espada, a tall lanky fellow with a disturbing grin, hissed. "So that makes you think that your our new boss."

Ichigo groaned, leaning his face against his palm. "I'm not anyone's boss. I just wanted him dead."

"Well I don't believe a twerp like this really beat Aizen!" a blue haired man growled. "He doesn't even have any spiritual pressure!"

Stark frowned in defense of his friend, while Lilinette bared her teeth like an angry puppy. Together they pushed their own spirital pressure over the assembled hollows, causing the feminine looking one with a number six on his right hip and long white sleeves to break into a sweat, while the arrancar with an oblong mask nearly fainted.

"Stark," Ichigo said tiredly. The blue clad arrancar looked at his friend, then relented and reeled back in his power, but nor before giving the assembled espada a challenging look.

The lone female at the table eyed him appreciatively, before looking to the seated orange haired man. "So, Mugetsu-sama-"

"Please don't call me that. I'm just...Mugetsu."

She inclined her head. "Mugetsu-san, what plans do you have for us? Do you plan on continuing Aizen's crusaide against the shinigami?"

"I don't want a war with the shinigami."

An almighty cry of protest arose to meet the Ichigo's announcement.

"What? But I wanted a slaughter!" seemed to be the most common lamentation.

The old man with a crown like mask glowered at the head of the table, muttering about weak leaders causing a kingdom to fall into ruin.

A pale green eyed man said nothing, merely staring at Ichigo with a neutral intensity.

A bald dark skinned man with a ten tattoed on his shoulder wrenched his sword free with a cry and lunged. Ichigo waved away Stark's moving to defend him, and simply raised a hand.

The arrancar's blade connected solidly with the man's naked palm, sending up sparks. The room immediately silenced.

Yellow eyes scrutinized the hollow from behind the porcelain mask, whose grin seemed much more sinister than before.

"Number ten, I remember you." His hand gripped the blade, which shattered in his palm.

The metalic pieces falling to the table was defening.

"If any of you wish to challenge me or my decisions, by all means do so." With a casual flick, the tenth espada was backhanded off the table into a wall. "Just know, if you attack me, you won't win."

"So we're just meant to wait until the Shinigami eradicate us for simply existing?" the blonde woman said scornfully, breaking the silence.

"If any arrancar wish to remain in Las Noches under my protection then they may. However if they do, then they need to obey my rules; like I said, I don't want a war with the Shinigami."

"So you would not fight them?" she pressed.

"I did not say that." Ichigo's demeanor darkened. "I won't let anyone hurt my friends."

Her eyes narrowed, but she backed down, watching him speculatively.

"Well I, Barrigan, refuse to serve such a weak willed hollow as you!"

"Then leave, I don't care." Stark could just imagine the half eyed expression Ichigo had behind his mask, the long suffering one he occasionally sported when Lilinette purposely tried to break his calm.

Yellow eyes scanned the assembled espada, all who wore mixed expressions of ire, fear, and consideration (as well as one perpetually neutral face).

The tension was cut by Gin, "Well, if that's all, I've got more things to show the new boss." He made a shooing motion with his hand, much to the annoyance of the most powerful hollows in Hueco Mundo, The shinigami opened the door back into the destroyed throne room, ushering Ichigo, Stark, and Lilinette through.

He led the party across the hall to another door hidden behind the rubble of pillars. After some digging, they managed to pry open the nearly seamless hidden door.

"This is Aizen's office," Gin said grandly, his arms thrown out to add to the drama.

"This?" Stark could hear the disbelief dripping from Ichigo's voice.

"Hey, it takes a bit of paperwork to run an army!" Gin retorted.

'A bit' was a massive understatement. Every surface, save the uncomfortably stiff backed chair behind the desk, was covered with precariously stacked mountains of paper.

"I'm going to need a filing cabinet," he heard Ichigo breathe.

"What's a filing cabinet?" the silver haired former captain asked.

Ichigo groaned.

"Get me someone who knows how tis mess is supposed to be organized."

"Right-o!" Gin said much too cheerily, before practically dancing out of the cluttered room, neatly shutting the door behind him.

Ichigo sighed again and slumped against the doorway, as all the walls were covered with towers of paper. "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Do you not want to be?" Stark asked, while Lilinette watched with concern from his side. "If you're just staying here for us, we can-"

"It's not that," the young man cut him off. "I just..." his gauntlet clad hand moved to the black sword wound around his waist. "I told you about Zangetsu, didn't I?"

Stark nodded cautiously. "That was the sword spirit you killed."

"Killed?" The orange haired man reflexively tightened around the black hilt. "Yeah. I guess...I guess that is the best way to put it." He took a shuddering breath to collect himself.

"Before I met you," he said at last, "I didn't expect to live that long. He...Zangetsu...he was crying, I think because he knew... Well, it doesn't matter. But now, now, I did my task, and I'm alive, and I have nothing to go back to."

"Where were you before?"

"The...Lilinette called it the 'in between place'. I was training there with my father to defeat Aizen. We were finished, and he was about to open the way back to Karakura Town... and, I don't know, the ground shook, like the time I was chased by the cleaner. Dad said to run out through the portal, but the barrier he had erected to keep the path clear failed. There were bubbles of this goop everywhere, and I got caught in some."

He laughed humorlessly. "Sandle-Hat one told me that that goop throws whoever touches it around in time and space. I guess that's what happened to me."

Stark scratched his head. This all sounded rather far fetched, but he understood the main points. "So now you're stuck here. It threw you too far away from home."

A wistful chuckle broke the man's lips. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

Lilinette rushed to their friend's side, arms encircling his waist. "Stop it! So what if your old home is too far away to get back to? Your new home is right here with us! We're your home! And if you don't like it here, your home will follow you wherever you go!"

Slowly, his hands loosened from the grip around the sword, before encircling the little body clinging to his. Stark could feel the phantom sensations of the hug around his own shoulders, and felt himself relax. Physical contact, after all this time, was still novel, even when experienced second hand.

"I... thank you, Lilinette," Ichigo whispered. "We don't have to leave, I know how much you like it here. I... I will like it here too." He laughed, "Just as soon as I set fire to this paperwork."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Notes: Not much for this chapter. Ichigo just has to deal with the consequences of his actions. He will survive...probably.


	8. Chapter 8

Gin did eventually find Ichigo a secretary to help with the paperwork. The orange haired man wasn't sure whether to be grateful or murderous when said secretary, a former lieutenant of the thirteenth division, proceeded to cheerfully rope Ichigo into sitting for hours at Aizen's desk to look over the miles of paperwork required to run a military-organization-recently-turned-small-nation.

Stark sometimes napped in the destroyed throne room, which remained empty despite most of the ruble being cleared away. Many of the weaker arrancar still wandered the halls performing maintenance duties on the palace, though on whose orders, Stark didn't know. Many more had left, either following some of the deserting espada or heading out on their own.

He would have preferred to camp down somewhere in the office itself, but he kept being disturbed by the constant rustling of papers the few times he managed to find a clear patch upon which to sleep. He ended up laying by the doorway like a particularly large dog, only opening his eyes long enough to watch the various hollows, burdened with papers or orders, enter and exit the small office.

Nel had reappeared soon after Ichigo's takeover with two nervous insect like hollows in tow. She and Lilinette took great joy in chasing them around the white halls in games of Endless Tag. Stark kept tabs on Lilinette using both their intrinsic connection and his reitsu senses. Her delight and joy were heady; Stark couldn't be happier.

The office entryway creaked open as another courier dashed from the room, arms full of scattering papers. The door didn't close all the way in the arrancar's wake, allowing a streak of bright light and sound to escape and disturb Stark's slumber.

The wolf's sharp ears heard the scratching of pens, and the woody shifting of papers being stacked against a desk.

"Taicho, Haribell's wanting to rework her agreement with you," Kaien's familiar tone broke over the endless sea of moving papers. "She says she wants the Spire territory, and in return she will ally herself with us."

Ichigo groaned. Stark could imagine the teen pressing his mask against the white painted wood of the desk. He hadn't yet removed the porcelain hiding his face since taking over the palace. "Do I have to?"

The former lieutenant of the thirteenth division chuckled sympathetically. "She does have most of the neutral arrancars on her side. Keeping ties with one of the few non hostile fractions of hollows would be a good idea."

Stark heard a dull rhythmic thudding, which most likely was Ichigo banging his head against the desk in frustration. "Become a shinigami, kill the evil guy, it will be fun!" The banging intensified. "I did not sign up for this."

Kaien laughed mirthfully.

The banging stopped, and Stark heard bone scrape against wood, as if Ichigo was turning his head to look at his companion. "Hey Kaien, how did you manage to stay hidden so long?"

Stark's ears perked up.

"You're only asking because you are bored," came the no-nonsense reply.

"Well obviously," the orange haired teen said. Stark could practically hear the eye roll. "But I would think that you would have been made an espada at least, with your zanpakuto as powerful as it is."

Stark could picture Kaien's humble smile, and the habit he had of scratching his cheek when embarrassed. "I actually never used Nejibana at all (and boy did she complain about that), until you stormed the castle. I told Aizen she was a remnant, along with my appearance, of all the shinigami I had eaten. I've always been pretty good at reistu control, it is a Shiba speciality after all, so it wasn't too hard to hide my strength. Constantly losing against the other arrancar was a pain though."

"Huh, thats-"

But what exactly Ichigo thought of Kaien's undercover experiences remained a mystery, as quick footsteps echoed through the throne room, closing in on the little office. Stark lazily opened an eye to see a flash of white and silver cross through the door. He contemplated moving closer to hear better what was going on, but the door was still ajar, and if Ichigo needed him, he was not too far away.

"New census data for Las Noches!" cheered the eerily joyous silver haired former captain. Several papers were shuffled and exchanged hands.

"A lot of the arrancar are leaving with Barrigan," Kaien said pensively.

Ichigo's voice sounded uninterested. "They can do what they want. I'm not a dictator; I won't hold them here."

The dark haired man shifted as if to say something, but it was Gin who spoke.

"I think what Shiba means is that this could come back and cause trouble for you later. Barrigan's strong."

"Well, I'm stronger."

"But," the former captain smirked, "as far as I know, you can't be in multiple places at once. So if Barrigan were to say, launch an attack on Las Noches while simultaneously attacking Soul Society, which one would you choose to defend?"

"I would beat them all here, then go save Soul Society," came the naive reply.

Something, possibly a sheaf of papers, thwacked across the desktop. "Stop being a child!" Stark had never heard Gin so serious. "You took responsibility for this place, so now you must think and act like a leader to your followers. Like it or not, you're the king here! If you don't take care of your subjects, they'll toss you off and trample you into the sand."

Stark opened his eyes. He could practically feel the thick tension permeating the silence like syrup.

"Don't you dare lecture me on how to be a king, Ichimaru Gin." Ichigo's voice had an eerie hollow quality Stark had never encountered before.

"Then start acting like one," the once proud shinigami captain said.

Ichigo sighed, though it came out closer to a growl. "How many went with Barrigan, and how many is that is comparison with those who left with Harribel? Which fraction is the strongest, us or them?"

There was some papers shifting, then Kaien, who had remained suspiciously silent throughout the confrontation, spoke up. "Baraggan took the septima, Zommari, with him when he went to re-found his kingdom. They're calling it 'The Kingdom of Nova Noches', or something like that, I think. Excluding your power, they outnumber us. However, if Harribel is serious about forming an alliance, then our combine forces are just about equal to his."

Ichigo hummed tiredly. "And she wanted the Spires? Give it to her. Make sure she signs a treaty; I know hollows don't respect pieces of paper, but I would prefer to have our agreement written down. Who knows, we could start a trend. Who's on our side again?"

Gin answered this time, his tone bringing to mind a serious posture with crossed arms, which Stark had begun to associate with the silver hire man's captain' voice. "Most of the privarion see this as an opportunity to rise in ranks again. Until you reform the military ranks, or make a mistake, they should stay on our side, for now. The numerose are waiting to see who comes out on top of your little territorial dispute."

Stark heard the sound of metal against a sheath, as Gin began tapping the hilt of his sword. "Of the espada, Uliquorra is the strongest to remain in the palace. He way loyal to Aizen, but I think it was more for his power than because he was a zealot like Zommari. I think we can trust him for now, though you might want to talk to him directly. The Quinto, Grimmjow, has been enjoying the chaos. He slaughtered a few numerose and Yammy after you broke his sword, and seems keen on challenging you personally. Suprisingly, the Sexta Luppi managed to survive his rampage."

Here Stark could have sworn that Ichigo laughed softly, but it was hidden by Gin's report.

"Nnoitra and the octava, Szayel, have been plotting something together, but that's nothing we can't keep an eye on. And Aaroniero..." Here Gin trailed off, and Kaien cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"He tried to eat me!" the former shinigami squawked.

Ichigo chuckled. "Whatever, that's fine. Who would be willing to fight for me?"

Gin's customary grin was evident by his tone. "I guess that depends on who you're planning to attack..."

Stark tuned them out. He could sense all the remaining hollows in the palace, and none came close to challenging him at full strength, let alone Ichigo. He focused his attention along his bond with Lilinette. Faint echoes of laughter and feet pattering against white stone filled his senses, lulling him back to sleep.

Suddenly-

"Hey what's the big-"

There was a sharp thump, and Stark felt the phantom pain of a bruise forming on his cheek. Lilinette was being attacked.

His eyes snapped open as he zeroed in on where his partner's reitsu was located. In a buzz of sonido so fast it looked as if he teleported, Stark dashed from his place outside of Ichigo's office. He landed on a ledge overlooking one of the abandoned corridors littering the palace.

Below a lanky espada with an eyepatch and a strange spoon like collar attached to his outfit loomed over two small green haired figures, smiling nastily. Stark leapt from the ledge and snarled at the tall espada threatening his friends. It grinned back, licking it's lips with an abnormally long tongue.

"Oh and what do we have here," the arrancar purred. "Another weakling to stand between me and my prey?" He reached for his sword.

Stark didn't let him draw it, before firing a cero point blank into the espada's face. The burnt corpse toppled gently to the floor amid piles of rubble from the destroyed walls.

Turning to his partner, Stark checked the bruise on her cheek.

"I'm fine!" Lilinette hissed as he prodded her face. She wriggled from his grasp. "He was being mean to Nel, we should check on her."

Stark's attention turned to the tiny hollow child with the cracked mask, who although looking shaken, did not appear to be harmed. She clung to Lilinette's waist, trembling face pressed against her friend's back.

Unaccustomed to comforting emotional outbursts, Stark clumsily scooped the two girls into his arms, allowing both to cling to his shirt.

"That was scawry!" Nel wept. "I though I w-was gonna die!"

"Stark!" The arrancar's head snapped to look over his shoulder. Ichigo, trailing a cloud of paperwork and a disgruntled looking Kaien trying to gather the stray sheets, stalked down the hall, eyes worried behind the grinning mask. "I sensed you leave from the office, what happened?"

In lieu of a response, the dark haired hollow turned back to the smoldering corpse. His arms reflexively tightened around the sobbing children.

The young man's eye's hardened as he took in the scene, an inhuman hiss issuing from his teeth as his eyes flashed yellow.

Kaien looked as well, and sighed exasperatedly. "I guess I'll cross Nnoirtra off the list of people on our side then," he sighed.

"Oh quiet, you hypocrite!" Lilinette growled over her partner's shoulder, still shaken and angry.

Stark vaguely wondered where she had been learning such words as that.

"You did the right thing," Ichigo said hollowly. "I don't care what the arrancar do amongst themselves, but they should know not to harm my friends."

Kaien rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, they're going to challenge him now, regardless of what you say. He killed the fourth espada, the stronger ones are going to want to test him to make sure he deserved his victory. It's been driving me insane since I killed the ninth."

"Hm," the orange haired man did not sound pleased.

"You could always instate him officially," Kaien suggested. "But we're no where near ready to start reworking the military yet."

"Right," Ichigo's voice had lost its predatorial hiss to sound more human. "Stark," he called. "I'll sort this out. Can you stop by the office later?"

The wolf nodded, mind otherwise occupied with controlling his urge to slaughter all the moderately strong beings in the immediate vicinity. Only his leader's presence at his back reminded him that he and Lilinette...and Nel too...were safe here.

"Calm down, dummy," his green haired other half grumbled in his ear. "Ichigo will kick all their asses if they try anything. And we can take down anyone who doesn't listen. We're safe."

Stark left the dismal hall, with its now charred grey walls, to return to the destroyed throne room. That den was safe. He tucked himself into his customary spot and released his two charges to play amongst the columns and rubble.

Ichigo soon returned, smelling of sour anger, blood, and the sharp ozone of cero. He glanced at the trio, eyes meeting Stark's for a moment, before sweeping back into his office.

The arrancar waited through another round of Endless Tag, before standing with a lazy stretch to enter the room as well. He kept the door open to allow the subdued, but recovering, laughter to be heard.

The young man was seated at his desk, head bent over a piece of paper, pen poised to write just above it. With a sigh, he raked a hand through his shaggy hair, before folding the paper into a rectangle. He dug through an inner pocket of his black jacket, before pulling out a metallic seal, stained black with ink. Stark remembered the lecture Gin and Kaien had subjected the young leader to about the importance of an official signature seal, if he wished to deal with Soul Society. Stark thought the whole notion silly (what was a signature to a display of power?), but Ichigo eventually relented to the former shinigami's pestering.

The official seal of Mugetsu, Lord of the Palace of Las Noches and all the arrancar within, was elegantly simple, or so a poet might say. Stark, having witnessed the seal's creation from a shard of Aizen's own sword, knew the bare branched tree cradling a moon inscribed with the character for 'protector' was born from Ichigo's laziness. The sketch he put together with a minute of scribbling and grumbles was brought to life less than a second later, when Ichigo twisted the largest metal shard with his bare fingers, alight with a cero to keep the metal pliable, and scored the seal across its face with the tip of his own black blade.

Later, Ichigo would admit that having the seal did save him from having to write his signature all the time, but he still found the whole thing too formal. The letter must be important, if the young man thought it deserved his official stamp.

Roughly, he stamped the folded paper closed with his seal.

"Stark, I need you to deliver this for me," Ichigo said not bothering to greet his friend beyond a gruff nod. He handed Stark the stamped letter and another folded piece of paper. "I circled on there the area where I think they should be. It's a warehouse, but they have it warded, so you will just have to wonder around until one of them comes to find out why you're there."

The arrancar unfolded the second piece of paper, which revealed itself to be a crudely drawn map labeled with street names. "Who is the letter for?"

The boy ran a hand through his orange hair. "They're called the Visoreds. They have more of a reason to hate Aizen than I, so will be glad to hear he's gone."

The arrancar nodded and tucked the papers into an inner pocket of his cloths.

"You can take Lilinette," Ichigo added absently, as he dug through another pile of paperwork on his desk. He spoke casually, as if he wasn't aware that Stark would not be letting Lilinette out of his sight for quite some time after the confrontation with Nnoitra. "She might like to meet them."

Stark nodded and left the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Notes:
> 
> The order of Espada is different without Stark there.
> 
> One: Barragan
> 
> Two: Harribel
> 
> Three: Uliquorra
> 
> Four: Nnoitra
> 
> Five: Grimmjow
> 
> Six: Luppi
> 
> Seven: Zommari
> 
> Eight: Szayelaporro
> 
> Nine: Aaroniero
> 
> Ten/Zero: Yammy
> 
> Also, yay! Visored!
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


	9. Chapter 9

The place on Ichigo's map turned out to be a lot of empty warehouses in the human realm. Stark recognized the taste of the air as belonging to Karakura, the very same town Ichigo had haunted several years before.

Lilinette wanted to go to their old empty field of flowers at the edge of town, once their mission was complete, to see how the place had changed. The fluid nature of the landscape and flora still fascinated the small hollow girl.

Stark had agreed, admitting to his own desire nap under the sun.

However, the duo had yet to discover the recipients of the letter they held. The concrete lots seemed empty, with not even a hint of spiritual presences.

"Maybe the map's wrong?" Lilinette grumbled, as she slumped against the wall of another empty building. "Maybe the Visored guys moved?"

The older hollow ran a hand across the nearest building. His fingers tingled. Curiously he pressed his palm against the concrete blocks. A zing of power pushed back against him.

Lilinette, sensing his curiosity, approached the wall as well, her nose crinkled as she sniffed.

"I don't smell anything."

Stark hummed, still tracing his hand across the wall, testing.

"The other buildings smell like dust and humans," the child continued frustrated. "I should be able to smell something from this one."

The older arrancar's hand caught on seemingly nothing. He wiggled his fingers, and the tips of his claws vanished, but would go no further.

Suddenly the invisible barrier pulsed, throwing Stark's hand back with a sharp zap of kido powered electricity.

"Ouch!" Lilinette squeaked, rubbing her hand sympathetically. Stark felt a moment of guilt for not shielding his partner from his pain, but the shock had been unexpected.

The barrier pulsed again, shimmering faintly visible, like a heat haze in the air.

Taking a step back, the hollows watched warily as a door opened from what moments before had been blank brick wall.

A lanky man with shoulder length blonde hair stalked out. Though not in traditional shinigami garb, the stranger held a zanpakuto ready in his hand.

Lilinette sniffed at him and sneezed. Stark sent her a questioning emotion, but she just rubbed her nose, mumbling about 'false-hollows.'

"Yo," the stranger drawled. "How can I help the two arrancar on my doorstep?"

"I'm here to deliver a message," Stark said, reaching into an inner pocket.

Atop the surrounding buildings seven dark shadows loomed, the metal of their swords gleaming. The arrancar froze. The shadows were strong, of that there was no doubt, but Stark felt assured he could over power them. However, Ichigo seemed to know them, or at least of them, and it would be rude to accidentally kill one of his friend's friends.

The blonde waggled a finger. "Now now, Aizen can't expect us to fall for a trap like that. Though I'm surprised he only sent you. Tell me, how did you discover our base?"

The duo simultaneously frowned in confusion.

"We don't work for Aizen," Lilinette squawked, affronted.

A blonde eyebrow raised. "Really? Then who do you work for?"

"No on-!" the little girl half yelled, before Stark covered her mouth.

"The message is from the one who killed Aizen."

A stunned silence filled the road. From above, the seven dark shadows hissed and squabbled with each other, before a haughty girlish voice shouted down to them.

"What are you talking about? The bastard's dead?"

"Hiyori," the blonde said sharply, silencing the shadows. Calculating eyes fixed on the taller figure. "So this guy kills our enemy, then sends a letter to our secret base on a whim, is that it?"

Stark tilted his head in annoyance. He just wanted to go take a nap. "He said he knew you had been injured by Aizen before, and he felt that you had the right to know of his death first."

The blonde hummed, then lowered his sword. "All right, give it to me."

The dark haired arrancar reached back into his pocket for the sealed envelope. He considered simply walking forward to hand it over, but felt that the seven watching shadows (who still had their swords drawn) would jump the gun and attack. Instead he tossed it lightly so it landed at the false hollow's feet.

Casually the blonde used the tip of his sword to flip the letter into his hand, deliberately letting his eye move from the arrancar to the unfamiliar seal on the envelope. Sheathing the blade, he cracked the letter open. His eyes flicked quickly through the words, stopped, then returned to the top to restart more slowly.

His hands shook, white fingers clutching the letter so tightly the paper warped. "It seems we owe this Mugetsu a great debt." He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess you better come in side."

...

The inside of the Visored's base was not what Stark expected, from what little he knew about human architecture...and human physics. Granted, he didn't know much about the former, other than Ichigo's commentary about structural integrity in open spaces while touring Las Noches. However, Stark was sure such a large underground space could not survive without some kind of structural support. Perhaps the false hollows used kido. Could kido even be used that way?

"So, you're from Hueco Mundo." Stark was broken from his contemplation by the false hollow with puffy black hair shaped like a star. He held out a hand. "I'm Love."

Stark stared blankly at the appendage.

Love laughed nervously and pulled his hand back. "So, ah, I hear there's a lot of... sand there?"

The arrancar nodded seriously. "Yes."

"Right," Love cast about. "So, the kid and Hiyori seem to get along well..."

Stark hummed.

When Lilinette encountered the small blonde female, Hiyori, everyone could hear the shouting. The false hollow snapped and growled at the two new arrivals in her territory. Lilinette, not to be intimidated, immediately barked back a challenge, ending with the two scuffling on the floor.

The small green haired girl was pinned to the floor almost immediately. Hiyori had scoffed about the child not being worth her time, before stalking off.

Since then, Lilinette had taken to following after the other girl and leaping at her back at random intervals. Initially the Visoreds were alarmed at the girl's behavior, but Stark didn't seen anything wrong with puppy fighting. Lilinette certainly was enjoying herself.

Love scratched he back of his head. "Right, so Shinji asked me to tell you that a few of our friends are stopping by, and they want to talk with you. So, you can chill here for a few days. Unless you have somewhere else to go, that is."

The arrancar thought longingly of his sunny glade full of flowers, but shook his head. He must finish his task first. "No, we'll stay and talk."

The man nodded quickly, and pointedly did not flee from the lounging hollow.

Stark closed his eyes and leaned further into the boulder at his back. This 'underground training facility' didn't have the same scent of fresh air as above ground, but the area was still warm and comfortable.

"Pst! Hey Stark!"

Stark internalized a groan. Maybe if he laid very still and fuzzed his consciousness from Lilinette's senses he could be left undisturbed to rest.

"Hey!" came the insistent hiss, accompanied this time by a sharp kick to the ribs, which caused the dark haired man to topple over.

The older arrancar grumbled. "What do you want?"

"I found a thing," she said, crouching down beside his splayed form. "You need to look at it."

He sighed. "Where?"

Instead of answering the little hollow scampered to he edge of the cluster of boulders Stark had been napping in. Half crouched behind a rock, she pointed to the far wall of the training ground near the ladder which vanished into the ceiling.

Stark crept closer and followed her gesture with his eyes. He blinked. A shinigami stood by the ladder's base, a massive blade wrapped in white bandages slung over his back. His hair was a striking orange.

The arrancar could understand why his youthful half insisted that he see the 'thing she found.' The boy looked startlingly similar to his Ichigo, but his reitsu was smaller that Stark's own. A relative perhaps? Ichigo did say it would be bad for others if he was recognized.

Lilinette sensed his curiosity mirror her own.

"I'll go check it out," she whispered.

He shot a sideways gaze at her, before rolling to slump against the boulder. "I'll take a nap."

Lilinette growled in annoyance, but scurried out from behind the boulder to pursue her new prey.

The boy grumbled distractedly, occasionally squinting up to the distant ceiling space where the ladder connected with the warehouse. "Stupid Shinji putting my training on hold," he huffed.

"Who are you?" piped a high voice from behind his back.

The teen flinched and flailed, partially reaching for the massive sword on his back before spinning around.

Lilinette crossed her arms, an unimpressed frown pasted on her face.

"Who are you you little twerp? Why are you sneaking up on people? I could have hurt you!"

"You couldn't hurt me!" The girl scoffed and leaned in close to him, her nose wrinkling as she sniffed him. "I'm Lilinette Gingerbuck. Who're you?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, seemingly disconcerted by her close proximity. He scuttled backwards in a hesitant walk. The girl followed, keeping stride with his long legs.

Her eyes narrowed. "Ichigo? Is that a family name? What're you?"

The boy scowled. "I'm human. My name means 'one protector'. My mom named me, but I don't think it was after anyone on her side of the family."

"Human?" her nose twitched. "You sure? Never smelled one like you...almost like..."

At this point the two crossed behind the boulder where Stark had been napping. The boy looked more relieved than his initial stoic demeanor would suggest.

"Stark-san! Could you tell the shorty to leave me alone?"

"Don't call me that! I'm not small!"

The boy ground a fist into her helmet. "Care to repeat that short stuff?"

She flailed ineffectively in his grip. "You're gonna pay for that, you copy-cat!"

"Copy-cat? I'll have you know that I am one of a kind, though I admit from your vantage point, everyone's knees probably look the same."

"Nuh uh! You're copying-"

Stark got up and tugged her away from the boy, silencing her tirade before she would give away something important.

"What she means," he said to calm the self professed human's confusion, "Is that you share an uncanny number of traits with an acquaintance of ours."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Hm," the arrancar cast about for something unspecific yet eye catching. "Your hair is the same color."

"Really?" Kurosaki sounded genuinely interested.

Stark hummed. "Did you get your hair from your mother as well?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, how did you guess?"

"She must be an interesting lady, despite taking care of a meanie like you," Lilinette cut in, perfectly timed to divert the teen's question from her partner. Stark took the opportunity to recline back, though he kept his eyes half open to watch this new interesting person.

Kurosaki scowled at her and punched a fist down on her skull. "Can it shorty."

The green haired girl rubbed her head, though her helmet like mask provided enough protection that she was not hurt. She stuck her tongue at him and pulled down an eyelid. "What's so special about a mother anyway? Is she like the pack leader?"

"Er," Kurosaki looked confused for a moment, before his eye found Lilinette's hole. "Oh right, you're a hollow. So, I guess you don't understand families..."

The little girl kicked him hard in the shins. "Of course I understand families, dummy! I have a Stark, and an Ich- a Mugetsu, and I even have a Nel to take care of, so there!"

The teen looked slightly abashed. "I didn't mean it like that... uh, well I guess sometimes a mother is in charge, though usually that's the father's job. Parents, that is fathers and mothers, take care of their children. Older siblings can take care of littler siblings too."

Lilinette pondered this strange human concept. "So, I guess Mugetsu's my mother, since he's in charge and takes care of me and Stark."

Kurosaki choked back a laugh. "Usually mothers are female."

The girl nodded seriously. "Then I guess Kaien's the mother...and Nel would be our little sister!"

The teen choked. Lilinette scowled thunderously at him. "Well, then what's your mother?"

"My mother is the kindest woman in the world," he said affectionately.

The childish hollow wrinkled her nose, stewing over whether 'kindness' was a desirable trait in someone you wanted to defend you from enemies. "Where is she? Is she a shinigami too?"

"No, mom's human. Everyone in my family is." Kurosaki shifted his shoulders. "My mom's been in a coma since I was a kid. We used to think it was and aneurism," he snuck a sideways glance at the arrancar. "That means something wrong with her brain. But, I talked to some of the guys in the Fourth Division, and they said it looked like something had disrupted her soul chain. The backlash is what sent her into the coma, apparently."

Lilinette looked ready to bombard the poor boy with more probing questions, but Stark could sense the teenager shutting down. The elder hollow casually shifted his leg, so that it knocked into the girl's ankles, causing her to unbalance and topple to the floor.

Immediately she rounded on him, rolling from her splayed position to a crouch, her teeth gnashing. "What was that for!"

Stark bore her ire blandly.

Kurosaki gruffly shuffled away once Lilinette's screeching reached uncomfortably high frequencies, but not before sending Stark a curious, almost great full look. The arrancar once again wondered how the human was related to Mugetsu. The boy looked jarringly similar to his friend. Were it not for the way the boy set his jaw (fearful desperate stubbornness, instead of his friend's effortless confidence) and the darker chocolate tint of his eyes, they could pass for mirror images.

Much later, after Lilinette's ire had calmed, the arrancar were summoned to a meeting out of the training room with the Visords. Also with them was a grinning blonde man wearing green, wearing a large striped hat. He grinned disarmingly at the duo, causing Lilinette to hunch her shoulders and hide behind Stark.

The dark haired hollow sat at the end of the low table, nudging his other half to give himself room to move. She remained stubbornly at his side like a limpet, her emotions a turmoil of unease at being the weakest being in the room of predators. Stark sent her a wave of assurance that, as the strongest there, he would not let her get harmed. He kept his own discomfort at being outnumbered to himself. Ichigo trusted these false hollows, and they had not turned hostile yet.

The assembly spoke quietly amongst themselves, the Visords having grown used to the arrancar's presence over the course of their stay. The eight who were present at Stark's first arrival lounged around the kitchen. Only Shinji, Ichigo, and the other blonde sat at the table with Stark. The blonde, Urahara, eyed the hollows speculatively over his fan, only occasionally looking away to speak with one of the Visords.

"So," Shinji drawled from the head of the table, now that the pleasantries were over. "Now that Urahara's been filled in on the situation, I guess there's only one thing left to ask you." He fixed Stark with a penetrating stare.

"What does your master want?"

Stark rolled from his slouch, frowning slightly at the Visord's address for his friend.

"Mugetsu doesn't want war," he said slowly. "But he won't let anyone get away with hurting us."

The green garbed man's eyes narrowed. "And what does he plan to do next?"

Stark shrugged, but before he could reply, Lilinette peered from around his back to speak. "He said he wanted to plant trees in Las Noches."

Everyone looked at her askant, including Stark.

Lilinette barreled on. "I heard him talking while I was playing with Nel, and he even said he would plant some flowers for me, when I asked."

"Why?" spluttered the orange haired teen.

The girl shrugged. "He said it was for a friend who always complained about the lack of trees in his life."

The room rumbled with barely suppressed laughter, though Kurosaki still seemed off kilter.

"Well, if that's all," Urahara said from behind his fan. "I suppose we could consider his invitation for an alliance."

Stark's brow furrowed, but he didn't let his confusion show. Ichigo didn't mention any sort of invitation being in the letter, but perhaps Gin had pressed him into writing some formal around the information that Aizen was dead.

From his green striped sleeve, the blonde pulled out a folded white rectangle of paper, stamped with a cracked mask in red wax. "We look forward to becoming pen pals."

Stark took the letter and tucked it carefully into an inner pocket of his clothing. He pondered whether he should attempt some human niceties he had seen shinigami and other humanoids express, but decided that bowing to anyone who was not his pack leader would be completely meaningless. Humans were so odd for pretending deference to weaker beings.

After a few, not uncomfortable, but definitely more antagonistic on the parts of Lilinette and Hiyori, farewells, the duo opened a Garganta and returned to Las Noches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> A/N: Am I hinting at the new Quincy arc information being responsible for Ichigo's mom's coma? Maybe... Will this reconnect into the plot later...no, not at all. And that's not me being mysterious or sarcastic, I really have no intention of adding the Quincy arc in this story.
> 
> Also, is anyone familiar with the scene where Zangetsu complains about how Ichigo has no trees in his inner world? I'm referencing that. Lilinette actually overheard Ichigo complaining to Kaien about paperwork, which led to a tangent on trees in the spiritual world, then on to how Ichigo might consider planting some in that enormously useless empty lot of dirt Aizen set up in the middle of Las Noches. Only when Lilinette expressed delight at the prospect of flora did Ichigo seriously consider the idea.
> 
> There should be only one or two more chapters of this...but school is a thing which takes up time. Oh, fun news! I got accepted into the first tier of applications for Johns Hopkins! Which means I will have even less time for non-school things, so that might not be good news for you all. Really, I have this chapter done because a snowstorm's shut down my school all week.
> 
> I have plans for one more chapter...but Gin's getting all 'character motive explain-y' so it might be broken up into two.
> 
> ...


	10. Chapter 10

Upon delivering the Visord's missive to Ichigo, Stark found himself seemingly pushed to the side as the leader of Las Noches was buried under treaties and contracts drawn up by his two formerly-shinigami advisors.

Gin and Kaien seemed to be under the, not baseless, impression that at any moment their allies would turn on them. They seemed to think that the best deterrent for that fate was to have such an act result in copious amounts of paperwork for both sides. Of course, copious amounts of paperwork seemed to be exchanging hands regardless of hostility levels, so perhaps, Stark mused, the true goal was to keep everyone too busy to kill each other.

The arrancar didn't mind, really, as he spend most of his days sleeping outside his friend's office and listening to Lilinette playing with Nel.

Other hollows challenged him to move from his post and 'prove his strength', but Stark found them much too troublesome to bother with. If the challenger was persistent, like that blue haired Espada had been, they might earn a glare and find themselves pressed into the pavement by Stark's heavy spiritual power.

The only hollow this did not appear to intimidate was the pale one with green eyes, Ulquiorra. Whether this apathy came from the hollow's own nature, or that he was too preoccupied walking to and from Ichigo's office, Stark didn't know.

Only once did the bat like hollow disturb him, but that was only to shoo away a gaggle of weaker numeros trying to goad him into movement with a piercing glare. The green eyed hollow then met Stark's own blue eyes and held his gaze for a few tense seconds, before nodding imperceptibly in acknowledgement. The wolf sighed, and tallied the hollow among his short list of beings who he could potentially get along with.

Ichigo seemed oblivious to his pack's newest close addition, but Stark supposed that his friend had enough on his plate to keep track of all the weaker beings he chose to watch over.

Ulquorra's main duty seemed to involve delivering messages to and from the splintered branches of the former Espada which sought to carve their territory out of the sands of Hueco Mundo. Usually Ulquiorra would return from such missions smelling of sand and a salty flowing water like reitsu. Once or twice the reitsu smelt of decay, and on those occasions Stark cold almost imagine a twinge of annoyance in his aura.

Stark expected himself to be called upon again to communicate with the Visords, but the false-hollows instead to communicate using their own representative. The first time Lilinette saw the animated doll, she squeaked in joy, and chased the poor thing half way around the palace before it was caught.

The 'mod soul', as the stuffed bird wearing a blue hood referred to itself, was a special 'combat-capable-special-correspondance' edition, whatever that meant. Stark took moderate pleasure in informing Lilinette of the toy's presence whenever he felt it appear in Ichigo's office.

Lilinette, in turn, cajoled Stark into hunting the bird with her when the poor creature managed to finally outwit the girl's superior nose. The mod-soul had yet to evade Stark's ability to sense spiritual pressure, however.

Currently the elder hollow lounged in an empty hallway while Lilinette attempted to coax the plush toy from its hiding place atop a pillar. The girl was just about to kick her partner into helping her, when a nervous looking arrancar with shoulder length blonde hair hesitantly approached them.

"Mugetsu-sama asks that you go to his..office," the poor fellow said, never once looking up from the floor to meet Stark's eye.

"Both of us?" Lilinette whined, clawing at the white walls ineffectively.

The hollow nodded quickly, and fled before Stark could do more than stand. The green haired girl pouted, but fell into step beside her partner as he walked back to the former throne room.

Gin stood outside the closed door of Ichigo's office, arms tucked away into his sleeves, his eyes narrowed to smiling slits. "I wouldn't go in there if I were you," he sang as the duo approached.

Lilinette bared her fangs with a growl. "Back off!"

"Oh, feisty little puppy, isn't she!"

A low rumble emanated from Stark's chest, but Lilinette already sprang to her own defense. Her green hair puffed up, though its attempts to make the slip of a girl look larger were lost under her mask.

"You might be able to boss Mugetsu around, but you can't do that to us!" she howled, rounding on the former captain.

Gin's smile widened. "Me? Boss him around? Whatever do you mean?"

"We've heard you," the little girl snarled. "Making him do what you want with the other arrancar and stuff!"

The atmosphere turned brittle. "I'm giving the kid exactly what he wants," a tiny hint of pale blue peered down at the hollow. Stark bristled, but sensed no hostility in the shinigami's cold tone.

"Mugetsu," Gin drew the sound out slowly, "is terribly young, isn't he."

Lilinette flinched back.

"What do you mean?" Stark interjected. Blue met blue in an intense stare. Lilinette scurried back to his side, gaze darting between the two predators.

"He wants a kingdom, this kingdom, which is precariously placed on the brink of a three sided war, and he naively thinks he can simply let events fall into place as they may." The silver haired man laughed. "He certainly is as far from Aizen as a leader could ever be."

"If you see him as so much trouble," the hollow said, "Then why not simply leave?"

"That kid wants this kingdom," Gin repeated again, voice unyielding as diamond. "And I will see him have it, whether he still wants it in the end or not." The captain's demeanor snaked back into a wide smile. "It's the least I can do, after all."

Stark gazed at the confusing being. Internally, Lilinette shrugged at him, sending him the mental sigh of 'shinigami are weird.'

"So why would that prevent us from going in there?" Lilinette peered around Stark's leg to jerk her chin in the direction of the office.

Gin shrugged too casually. "Hm, our illustrious leader has a mission for you. Knowing what I know, not that he cares, I think he'll regret it later."

"He called for us, so we will go," Stark said lowly, taking five steps to the door.

As he laid a hand on the knob to open it, the arrancar heard Gin sigh. "Finally got the kid to delegate, and he goes and sends one of the strongest fighters instead of someone expendable."

Lilinette cast a curious glance back, but followed her partner into the room, just before the door slid shut.

Somehow, Ichigo managed to properly describe what a filing cabinet was enough for a weak hollow to steal a few from the human world. Unfortunately, he could not dissuade the arrancar in charge of decoration from painting them white. In retaliation Nel, with the liberal help of her fraccion and Lilinette, had covered the cabinets in all sorts of brightly colored magnets, depicting alphabetic characters, flowers, and fuzzy smiling faces.

Most arrancar upon entering the office found the sight intimidating, in a terrified blur of confusion kind of way, especially since Nel had only been able to find five individual letters, one of which was a 'D' and two of which were 'T' and 'H'.

Lilinette immediately ran to re-arrange the magnets more to her liking, while Stark approached the slightly more visible desk.

"Ichigo?" he asked to draw his pack leader's attention, despite him obviously knowing Stark was there.

"Stark," the young man looked up from a stack of paperwork. His yellow eyes drooped tiredly behind his grinning mask. "I need you to deliver something for me."

"To the Visords?" Lilinette piped up, peaking her head over the cabinet.

"No," he shifted aside a stack of papers, absently searching for something. "Soul Society."

The duo exchanged a look, which the young man didn't seem to register.

"Wouldn't Kaien or Gin be a better choice? They know how to deal with shinigami, don't they?" Stark frowned at his partner's query. While logical, it would send weaker pack mates into danger, and while Stark didn't necessarily like Gin, he still acknowledged his duty to protect him.

Ichigo again didn't notice the conflict between his oldest companions. "No, Kaien is assumed dead, and that would bring more trouble that its worth if they discover he melded with the hollow they believed killed him. Gin...well, he's still considered a trader, and I don't trust him not to pour oil on the fire out of some strange idea of a joke."

The orange haired man looked up earnestly. Stark noticed the dark circles under his friend's eyes and the faint worry lines carving their way into the corners of his temples. "Stark, you're the only one I trust not to antagonize the shinigami and start a war. I would go myself, but there's too much that needs my attention here."

Lilinette wrung her hands, old fears of what shinigami did to unsuspecting hollows dancing through the back of her mind. "But-"

"It would interrupt my nap," the Stark interrupted, "but I'll do it." Lilinette scowled at him for his tone of voice.

Ichigo smiled. "Thank you." He handed Stark a folded letter stamped with wax and a large box, which had been sitting on a corner of the desk. At Stark's inquiring look, Ichigo shrugged. "Gin thought it would be poetic to give them more proof of Aizen's demise than just our word."

Stark nodded, picked up the box and letter, and turned to go. Lilinette clung closely to her partner's side as they left the office. Stark could feel her glancing back at Ichigo every few steps, noting the way he immediately fell back into paperwork once he stopped speaking.

He opened a garganta amid the straightened rubble of the throne room, and the little girl finally spoke. "Why did you stop me from telling him? Ichigo forgets that shinigami don't like hollows."

Stark huffed under his breath. "Better us then someone else."

"It is our job," Lilinette bit her lip, "but I don't like it. Why do we have to talk to the shinigami anyway? It's not like they can get us in Hueco Mundo."

The man huffed again. "Ichigo seems inclined to favor their way of doing things."

"Shinigami are weird," the little girl frowned. Her hand shot out to grasp Stark's trailing sleeve, his own hands still carrying the onmious white box. The silence hung between them thickly as they walked.

"I don't want to die anymore," she said almost too softly through the silence. "I know we wanted to a long time ago, before I became me and you became you, but I don't want to anymore."

Stark didn't answer.

"We aren't alone anymore. You know that, right?"

"Of course," was his immediate reply. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "And we will spend the rest of our existence repaying Ichigo for that."

Lilinette's fist tightened in Stark's clothing. "He wouldn't want us to get hurt though."

"Which is why we shall endeavor to not start a war, like he asked us."

The end of the garganta came into sight, crackling abyss spilling leafy green light into the stepped out of the portal and appeared near the outermost reaches of Soul Society, in a thick wood which reminded him of his first visit to this realm many years ago.

At his side Lilinette scrunched up her nose. "I don't like it here."

The older hollow laid a hand on her head comfortingly. "We can go home as soon as we make the delivery."

"I still don't like it. There are shinigami everywhere!"

"Ichigo wouldn't send us into a situation we couldn't handle."

"But remember last time we were here? He thought he would be able to find his friends, and they attacked him!"

Stark tucked his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders. "We're doing this because he asked us to."

"I know that but-!"

"They shouldn't be able to tell what we are if we cover up out holes, and suppress our reitsu. Ichigo wouldn't send us into something too dangerous."

"But he doesn't always realize what's dangerous-"

"We'll be fine."

The girl plucked at her pale pink dress and green shorts, the kimono long since having been replaced. The gaping hole in her abdomen was securely covered. She couldn't do anything about her mask. She eyed Stark, who obligingly shifted the box to one hand and tugged his blue jacket higher up his neck to cover the hole in his heart.

Lilinette clenched her fists, but didn't speak on the matter further.

Three days passed before the duo walked through the wild outer districts to the richer inner neighborhoods. Once or twice some weak souls would eye them speculatively, as if wondering the worth of the contents of the box they carried, but one glare from Stark usually dissuaded any attempted theft.

The first time Lilinette caught the electrical scent of shinigami, she stiffened and stood closely to her partner's side. Stark remained stoic, but sent the girl comforting emotions to calm her panic. Luckily, the black robed figures didn't pay the hollows more than a passing glance. The closer to the inner circles they came, the more death gods they sensed, and while Lilinette never was able to stifle the terror in her heart before it appeared, she did manage to not freeze anymore.

Eventually the path leading from district to district became a road, which ended at a circular wall with a tall ornate gate. The duo hesitated.

"Do we knock?" Lilinette queried.

"No!" a booming voice echoed. An enormous figure fell from the sky, causing the ground to shake.

The green haired girl yipped and hid behind her other half, clutching his clothing tightly.

"I am the gate guardian, you must defeat me to pass!"

Stark met the shinigami's eyes blandly. "I am not here to fight shinigami."

The giant frowned. "But that's the rules."

Lilinette peaked behind Stark's back with a frown. "That's stupid."

"We request an audience with the shinigami captains," Stark intoned to the gate guardian. His tightly coiled spiritual pressure fluctuated in annoyance at having to repeat himself.

A bead of sweat ran down the giant's face. "I - I'll have to contact my superiors." He hesitated back a few steps. "You wait here!"

Stark nodded obligingly. He did not move from his calm stance of holding the box with Lilinette still tucked at his side, even as the shinigami seemed to whisper a message to what appeared to be a black butterfly.

The great gate opened soon after the insect had fluttered away, revealing a well maintained road through numerous feudal-style building. Tense black robed figures lined the walkway, while two in white coats stood at the front.

Stark silently hushed Lilinette's trepidation as the duo walked forwards. The gate thudded shut behind them, in what a more dramatic person would call ominous. To Stark, the echoing thud seemed...hollow.

"Welcome stranger," the captain with long white hair said, a pleasant, entirely false, smile plastered across his face. His companion, wearing a pink robe of some sort over his coat, remained watchful.

Stark pointedly did not incline his head. "I've come to deliver a message to the leader of Soul Society."

"And who might you be stranger?" the second captain finally spoke.

Stark met his cool gaze evenly. "I'm Coyote Stark."

Lilinette huddled further into her partner's side as the two shinigami eyed her curiously. The elder wolf repressed a growl. Shinigami didn't seem to understand the subtler instincts of other beings, and the threat would be lost on them.

"Who is the message from?" The white haired captain spoke again.

"The one who killed the shinigami Aizen."

Immediately the black garbed delegation focused on the hollow, all attempts at friendliness forgotten.

"And what is this message?" The white haired captain's voice was tense.

"...I have a letter, and this." Stark proffered the white box. "I was told to give it to the soutaicho."

"Well, it would be rude to keep you waiting then," the pink captain said calmly. "If you would follow us?"

The captains motioned Stark to follow them down the street, keeping him always within their line of sight. The crowd of weaker shinigami closed around them like an escort, blocking any easy retreat.

The party walked through the eery city, arriving in shot order at a large extravagant compound, with 'First Division' written across the front doors.

The weaker shinigami escort broke away, but the two captains led the hollows into the building. They walked up several flights of stairs, before entering a long white corridor, which ended in a heavy wooden door. The door opened as they approached, exposing a wood paneled room in which more white robed captains stood, watching the newcomers.

Lilinette tried to hide her discomfort at being locked in a room with such powerful individuals, but Stark felt the echo in her mind anyway. He wanted to comfort her, but couldn't let his guard down.

At the head of the room an ancient man with a long beard leaning on a wooden cane eyed the duo with suspicion.

"Who are you?" the old man boomed.

Stark maintained his unruffled calm. "I am Coyote Stark. I carry a message for the soutaicho."

"Then deliver it."

The hollow slowly reached for his inner pocket, careful to balance the box securely in one hand, and extracted the letter Ichigo had written. He hesitated, wondering if he should approach the old man and hand it to him, but the white haired captain plucked the paper from his fingers. The younger captain cracked the seal, wary of traps, and scanned its contents.

His eyes became progressively wider as he read. "The- This Mugetsu claims to have killed Aizen."

The assembled captains gasped and shifted. Finally, the head captain fixed Stark with a burning stare. "What proof is there of this?"

"It says to open the box."

The pink wearing captain took the package from Stark's hands and pried off the lid. The assembled shinigami flinched back a the contents of the box was exposed. The youngest turned as white as his hair, and clutched a hand to his mouth.

The stale smell of iron and delayed rot permeated the air, and Stark had a good idea of what was in the package. Lilinette covered her nose. She had never liked the smell of blood.

"Is that his head!?" someone hissed, sounding disgusted.

"Tis is an outrage!" another shrieked. "How dare this outsider intervene in matters of Soul Society!"

More voices rose in shock and anger, making Stark's head ache.

"Enough!" called the soutaicho. Hi eyes turned down to Stark. "Return to your master. We will contact him once we have deliberated this issue."

Stark nodded and gratefully turned away to leave.

"I'll escort the...guest to the gate," a black and white face painted captain said. Several wary looks were gained from his offer, but the captain rushed the hollow duo from the room before anyone could outright protest.

They walked in silence until they had left first division compound to wander the deserted streets.

Finally the captain spoke. "Your little stunt at the front gate set off all my hollow detection equipment, though I'm curious as to how you manage to suppress your power so well. I can barely feel it, even when I'm looking."

Stark immediately leapt away, narrowly dodging the captain's sword.

"I've never encountered a hollow like you before," the captain grinned, his yellow teeth stretching too widely across his face.

Lilinette, who had been flung further away from the attack leapt forwards.

"We give you your enemies' head in a box and this is how you thank us?" the girl screamed, charging a cero in front of her mask.

"Lilinette, go home," Stark growled, facing their attacker.

She turned on him. "But-"

"We are not here to start a war. I'll be fine. You get a head start."

Her pink eyes bore into the back of his head, while their bond reverberated with his lie. Finally she nodded and fled through a hastily constructed garganta.

"Pity about the little one," the captain sighed. "But One out of two isn't bad, I suppose."

Stark remained unmoving and silent. He could easily kill this shinigami, but Las Noches could not afford war. Ichigo trusted him to not cause trouble here, so he wouldn't.

The cage they stuck him in had white seki stone walls which, under normal circumstances, Stark would be able to smash despite their ability to absorb reitsu. His captors apparently realized this too, at they welded a red metal collar around his throat to try to suppress his powers. Tiny black patch shaped creatures with sharp teeth were set crawling all over his arms and back to eat whatever power managed to escape his bindings.

To top it all off, everything was coated in some kind of hollow repellant, which not only made Stark nauseous, but gave him a pounding headache.

He hadn't moved from his fallen sprawl on the floor where they had thrown him.

All his life, or at least the parts he remembered, Stark had wanted to be weak. Being the strongest at the top was lonely; that was the whole reason his predecessor had split in half to form Stark and Lilinette in the first place. However, now that Stark was lying helpless, awaiting certain torture at the hands of those who were currently much stronger than he, the arrancar found that he did not much fancy the idea of being weak after all.

The cage door creaked open and he heard two sets of footsteps enter.

"Welcome to the Twelfth Division," a creepy voice cackled. "I hope you enjoyed your journey here; I told my men to be extra careful in capturing you. I can't have damaged goods after all."

Stark remained slumped in the corner.

"Never have I had a chance to examine such an interesting specimen," the voice purred. "Nemu, be sure to take special care with the notes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> A/N:
> 
> Cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry, this was getting a bit long, and I didn't think you wanted to wait till summer for an update. So... uh... The next chapter gets a bit heavy. Should I include a trigger warning for scientific experimentation on sentient beings? Or should I just up the story rating...? Nothing too graphic, but I do mention melting skin and stuff... Basically nightmare fuel if you think about it too hard. Specifically, because it's someone else's nightmares.
> 
> This chapter was a bitch to write. I hate soul society.
> 
> Also, graduating and senior thesis papers. Science is hard. Getting BA's is hard. I have senioritis. Why can't school be done?


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Skip the italicized bits if you don't want to hear Stark's rather broken perceptions of his body's time in the 12th division.

...

...

Stark's awareness slipped from his body, whirled around his dark inner thoughts, and tried desperately to hide from the persistent light of his partner trying to find him.

He was not entirely successful at blocking her out.

Hazy images, seen through tear filled eyes that were not his own, spiked through the arrancar's mind. Vibrant orange hair smelling of home covered a face, while strong arms held a tiny writhing body tightly to a warm chest.

"They're hurting him! They're hurting us!" Tore through the air in a high pitched wail of pain. "He's pushing me away, but I won't let him feel this alone! I can't! That would hurt us worse!"

Slightly clawed fingers combed over the screamer's back, before gently wiping the tears from hot cheeks.

"We'll find him," a warbling threat growled out using the guide of a voice. "Don't worry, don't worry. I will find him and I will kill them."

Stark flinched back from his partner's pain, even as he wished to offer her comfort and to feel the comfort lavished upon her second hand. He wandered too close to his body and had to block out the mindless screams issuing from its mouth.

BURNING BOILING BUBBLING his hierro fizzling away into slag that dRiP DrIp dRiPped to the bile painted floor- mad joyous cackling as the captain's knives and needles could finally make his experiment WRITHE

The tenuous concept of time the arrancar held shattered as his consciousness wavered between emotional and physical agony.

"Lilinette, go to the Vizards." The sharp command anchored Stark's awareness.

He could feel fingers that were not his own curl into fists tight enough to bruise. "What? No! I want to fight!"

Up above predatorily yellow eyes softened behind a sharply grinning porcelain mask. "This isn't just about your protection, this is a very important mission."

"Really?" Child like belief sparked behind his partner's heart.

"Yes, you're the only one who knows where their hideout is. I need you to explain to them what happened, so they don't think I broke my word and decided to attack Soul Society."

Rage flared. "Send someone else. I'm going to save Stark!"

"Lilinette, please. You've met them before, they are more likely to trust your word. Besides," he patted her head, reptilian claws rasping against the bone mask. "Stark would kill me if I let anything happen to you. And I wouldn't forgive myself either."

She sniffed, scowling thunderously, but nodded. "Fine, I'll do the stupid mission."

Relief coursed through the elder hollow's soul at his other half backing down. He didn't want her to see-

RED RED RED his mask ripped ToOtH by fAnG out of his ThRoAt then compared to the bone fragments tOrN free from his MoUtH CHOKING HEAVING CAN'T MOVE

"Listen to me!" Ichigo's echoing voice roared across the desolate courtyards of Las Noches, silencing the writhing multitudes of hollows to his will.

He watches through eyes placed high away from the scene, as if perched atop a pillar. The orange haired man seems bigger, wilder, his black aura dwarfing the two former shinigami standing stone faced on his left. A blonde woman wearing white with a shark like smile covering the bottom half of her face stood to his right with Uliquiorra.

"The shinigami took one of us prisoner with no just cause!" The snarl dripped with more blood thirsty ire than Stark ever recalled hearing from his friend's voice. "I am no tyrant, I will force none of you to fight. But those of you who wish to fight for their king FOLLOW ME!"

The mob of hollows roared, squealed, hissed and squawked, with great animalistic whoops and war cries thundering from the assembled arrancar.

Lilinette trembled, excitement racing from her heart straight to her partner. 'Don't worry, Stark, we're coming!'

'No,' thought the wolf's trickling consciousness, 'No, I'm not worth the trouble! They'll come for me, and I'l have disappointed my friend by causing the war he didn't want! That would hurt more than-'

monitoring how long it takes REGROWING BONES HURTS MORE THAN HE REMEMBERED the marrow spills from his third new set of carples into needles and tubes for further study VOCAL CORDS TORN OUT SO HE CAN'T EVEN HOWL

Blinding fury tints the world red as tiny fangs gnash in agitation.

"They took Stark," Lilinette spat in the Kurosaki boy's face. "Mugetsu tried talking! He sent the shinigami letters- he even tried to go to soul society himself, but they locked him out! We're not going to war, we're getting Stark back!"

The teen backed up, hands raided against the feral wolf pup. "I only meant-"

The arrancar leapt, teeth aimed for the self proclaimed human's throat. A strong arm looped around the girl's middle, halting her brief flight.

"Woah there little puppy," Shinji's silky voice crooned. "Don't pay any attention to the brat, he's just too used to stoping every enemy attempting to invade Soul Society. Rather hypocritical if you ask me."

The girl struggled in the blonde's arms, still spitting fire at her prey. "He said he was going to stop Mugetsu! I'll kill him!"

"Is that right?" Shinju shifted to glaze apathetically at the teen, who quailed appropriately. "Hm. Don't worry, if he tries to run off, we'll stop him. Stark is our friend too, and we owe Mugetsu a great debt."

ringing silence THUMP so loud it hurts THUMP at least all limbs THUMP are accounted for THUMP if much more tender THUMP than usual THUMP how strange THUMP that they've allowed him to heal THUMP though that meant THUMP that they would be returning soon THUMP - CRASH!

"You know, when I asked you not to start a fight, I didn't mean that you should let yourself be captured."

Stark opened his eyes blearily.

The sharp smile of Ichigo's mask greeted him, though the eyes underneath looked relieved.

"Didn't want...to," he panted between his pounding headache, "...cause...trouble..."

Ichigo sighed fondly. "Whatever, let's go." He crouched down and started picking the black creatures from his arms. They exploded upon coming into contact with his skin.

"These are like the thing Kenpachi has," he muttered flicking gore from his hand in disgust. "Guess I had too much reitsu for them to eat." His hand knocked against the collar. "There's not even a key for this thing! Even Rukia's had a key!"

An explosion outside brought him back to the present. Ichigo huffed and threw Stark over his shoulder.

"Whatever, we can get that thing off when we get back to Las Noches."

A tiny spark of indignation, which probably came from Lilinette, wanted to protest being carried, however Stark did not feel capable of ambulating in any fashion given his current condition.

The orange haired man leapt lightly over the smashed remains of the twelfth devision. Between the debris Stark could see splashes of red and limbs, but his friend paid no mind to the corpses, so Stark did not either, beyond a small flame of vengeful content.

In the distance Kaien's released form whirled around with reckless abandon, grasping as many of the shinigami's zanpakuto as she could to disable their powers.

A pale haired man in a white robe kept drawing near to fire off bolts of light, despite his swords hanging useless at his waist. "Miyako please, stop this!" he was shouting. "Kaien wouldn't want you to do this!"

"I'm not Miyako!" she shouted huffily, dodging the kido in such a way that it struck one of the lower ranking seats behind her. "And I'm pretty sure this is exactly what Kaien wants!"

Ichigo continued past the fight, not sparing more than a glance to ensure his secretary's continued wellbeing.

The masked man made it thirty more steps, before a pair of fire haired teenagers flew to block his path. The younger of the two blanched upon seeing Ichigo gently carrying Stark. His sword lowered, as if this was not the fight he had expected to fall into.

Kurosaki looked practically green when his eyes fell on the arrancar. "Stark-san? Oh kami..."

The boy turned to the red headed shinigami by his side. "Renji, did you know this was happening? Tell me!"

The lieutenant, judging by his uniform, shook his head, looking vaguely ill at the visible blood staining the arrancar's tender skin.

Ichigo eyed the two apathetically. His yellow eyes flicked to the teen. Stark thought he could detect a faint tenseness in his friend's muscles as he surveyed the boy.

A sharp shout signaled the arrival of another squad of dark robed figures brandishing swords. Growling displeasure rumbled through the hollow king's chest, but before he could shift Stark in his arms to grab his sword, Kurosaki stepped forward.

"You get him out of here," the orange haired shinigami said. "I'll handle these guys."

Renji spluttered. "Ichigo, how could you! Traitor!"

"I'm not a shinigami!" the teen frowned. "And what happened to Stark-san was wrong, and you know it Renji! It's even worse that what they did to Rukia!"

"He's a hollow!" the shinigami protested.

"That doesn't matter! He didn't do anything wrong!"

"But-"

Kurosaki flung an energy beam at the lieutenant, destroying the building he and the approaching reinforcements stood on, and throwing up a large cloud of debris and smoke.

"Thank you," Mugetsu's warped voice cut through the arguing pair. His eyes fixed on his young counterpart. "I know you have friends in the shinigami, so thank you."

The teen flushed. "Don't mention it."

Stark could sense his friend's suppressed laughter. "In any case, if you need help, or if your family needs protection, tell me."

"You don't-" the teen protested, but Mugetsu cut him off.

"I do not offer out of obligation to repay a debt, but because I want to."

By this time the dust had settled, revealing the rumbled shinigami coughing atop the ruble.

Mugetsu gave one last nod to the teen, before flashing away towards the boarder of the Rugonkai. Once past the massive wall surrounding the inner circle, he gently thrust Stark into the arms of an arrancar with bird skull mask on her head. She reverently bowed, before fluttering through a garganta.

Stark's awareness failed him again as darkness encroached upon the edges of his vision. His last conscious memory was of being gently laid in a bed and the bird-like arrancar clucking over his wounds, then blissful sleep.

He didn't remember much of the next few months clearly, as he recovered from his ordeal. Stark suffered severe reitsu depletion, and his hierro was still regrowing, causing his skin to prickle and bleed at the slightest rough contact. The man found himself drifting away from his body too often for his liking and slipping through time too quickly while he was meant to be awake.

Even Lilinette was unable to reach him during some of his worse catatonic episodes, but together the duo navigated the shared space of their minds to eventually find each other.

Visitors migrated to his bedside in a constant stream, only to be pecked away by the bird-masked hollow, Stark learned had been assigned as his personal medic. Most were arrancar he didn't know, who kept their heads bowed while reverently murmuring what an honor it was to meet 'the heart of the king's anger'.

Lilinette, who had been plastered to his side since before he awoke, explained how Ichigo snapped when she returned alone from Soul Society. The arrancar took their leader's terrifying anger as a sign that he had been telling the truth about promising to protect them. Even Harribel was impressed by the young man, and allied herself to his kingdom without further prompting, or so the little girl said.

Mugetsu himself arrived once Stark's condition was stable, and he was able to mentally anchor himself in his body to stay conscious for an appropriate length of time. The hollow king, mask removed for the first time in an age, clutched his friend's scared hand. The intensity of his grip could have bruised, if the man wasn't consciously being gentle.

His eyes, once gold, were now a solid poisonous yellow. Small bone like protrusions spiked from under his black clothing around his shoulders like armor. His pale skin held the stiff sand paper like roughness of hierro, and his fingernails had morphed into sharp white claws. Mugetsu looked worn out, as if he had been pushed through a crucible and burned away some much missed part of himself.

"I can never make up for what I have done," the king breathed, head bowed low. Lilinette crooned and wriggled her way into the his lap for a hug. Mugetsu's free arm wrapped around her protectively.

"There there, don't be sad," she said, childishly patting the man's back. "We're ok. We got Stark back."

The older arrancar lowered his eyes.

"It's my fault for putting you in that situation and for thinking that the shinigami would be..." he trailed off. Carefully the king set the little girl back on the bed and bent his brow to the floor in a submissive bow. "I am sorry for putting you into that situation. I know better now, and I won't let them touch you again."

Lilinette made a pained noise in the back of her throat and turned to Stark beseechingly. "Don't," he said, voice still faint from abuse. "Don't bow to us. You are our friend, our first friend. We would do anything you asked. You don't have to apologize, this was my fault I-"

"Stark," the commanding tone cut through the hollow's words. "Stark, no. You do not owe me anything!" Yellow eyes bore into blue. "You were my first friend in this place too. I owe you more than I could ever repay."

"But-"

An annoyed huff cut the hollow off. "Fine, you would do anything I ask? Then next time you can see me making a bad decision or being an unfit ruler, you whack me over the back of the head. All right?"

Stark looked beseechingly at Lilinette, who shrugged. He looked back at his friend, hesitated, then nodded, throat strangely tight.

"Good." A weary smile curled the corners of Mugetsu's mouth.

A soft knock ended the moment. The bird-skulled nurse peaked her beak into the room. "Mugetsu-sama, the patient need his rest."

"Thank you Robin-san, I'll leave now." Standing, the king donned his white striped mask. With one final hug to Lilinette and a nod to Stark, he left the infirmary.

...

The soul reapers took the Stark's rescue as a declaration of war, and several strange fluctuations in the air on the boarders of Las Noches signaled that not all of the twelfth division's research had been destroyed. Mugestu relegated Szayel, to monitor the situation and create machinery to counter the shinigami's attempt at creating a portal into Hueco Mundo.

A large portion of the arrancar were screaming for war as well, and it took Mugetsu roaring himself hoarse at the hollows to prevent them from attempting a frontal assault while the shinigami were weak.

Currently Las Noches, in difference to Mugetsu's favored 'defend don't strike' philosophy, was stocking for war, with unused rooms being filled with supplies and a re-fitting of the army.

Though the new system reflected the old with espada in charge of a collection of fraccion, Mugetsu entrusted each of espada with certain duties pertaining to the running of Las Noches.

Szayelaporro, with the strict instructions to not experiment on anyone under sever penalty, was kept in charge of the numerous labs in the basement. His less moral tendencies were curbed when ordered to find solutions to specific challenging problems, such as 'how do we stop the shinigami's artificial garganta generator?' and 'the twelfth division, while destroyed and with their captain thoroughly splattered (along with his creepy extra brain), still will be a bitch to fight. Find a way to stop them.'

Hollow's did not have much understanding of training, as fighting for them was very much a kill or die kind of scenario. Therefore, Kaien found himself three assistants to man the paperwork, and spent his remaining time turning the unorganized rabble into something of a working militia.

"It's not much different than what I used to do as a lieutenant," he chuckled while visiting Stark in his bed. "Though hollows are less team work oriented fighters than shinigami. the hardest part is getting them to remember to not accidentally cero the guys on our side in some flashy attack."

Kaien often included Grimmjow in on his exercises, giving him half of the army to command to see if he could teach the hollow some strategy.

"He lost most of his fraccion during the assault of Soul Society, but the guy was a good leader to them, from what I saw," the former-shinigami confided. "He cares about his people, in his own way, which is important when you're sending them into battle."

Harribel, as a leader in her own right, was not technically under Mugetsu's command. However, she took it upon herself to intervene whenever two parties with differing political ideals attempted to start a row.

Uliquorra seemed to have assigned himself as Mugetsu's right hand, and could often be seen performing miscellaneous errands for his king, or helping to sort through piles of paperwork.

Gin was...Gin. Which meant whenever he opened his mouth with information no one could figure out how he knew, Mugetsu listened, despite the sour expression it left on the orange haired man's face.

Then there were the Visords, who had claimed the destroyed throne room as their own and resisted all attempts of the resident arrancars to shoo them away to somewhere less important, like very stubborn vermin.

"Eh, we have to make sure the shinigami don't try to take back our second favorite arrancar," Shinji smirked, leaning against the hospital wall.

"Second?" Stark asked, despite himself.

The blonde shrugged. "Lilinette-chan is very persuasive."

Barragan's splinter faction had lost some support when Mugetsu's successful assault on Soul Society came out. In retaliation, the death-like hollow is his kingdom further in the desert, most likely to gather strength to lay siege to Las Noches.

When Stark pointed this out (finally well enough to make short trips around the palace)Mugetsu shrugged.

"They can try," he huffed from behind a wall of paperwork.

Kaien then appeared with another armload of things to be signed, effectively cutting off any further conversation.

Stark yawned and laid back against the pillar he currently was napping beside. Lilinette had run off with Nel. He could feel her mischievous joy burbling in the back of his mind, and made a point to tell Gin to stop giving the dangerous duo candy. He yawned again, and decided that informing the silver shinigami was not worth the effort of finding him, before shutting his eyes.

Strange how full of people his life had become.

It was...nice.

...

...

The End.

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> So Ichigo's changed appearance follows this logic: His final Mugestu form (the one he got to before the Karakura battle before facing Aizen) was meant to be him absorbing his hollow and shinigami/whatever power. However, he seems to fight only as a shinigami. Here, Ichigo had to get in touch with his repressed hollow powers and instincts, hence the change in appearance. The change was brought on via a combination of anger at his friend's kidnaping, disgust at him being the one who sent him there, unholy rage at all things shinigami related, and a need to be even stronger to take on soul society and the arrancar's unrest. Or at least that's how I see it. More news as the story progresses.
> 
> As someone pointed out in the reviews, I have been heavily hinting at a war, haven't I? Guess this means I have to write a sequel now. Eventually. Maybe.
> 
> Ugg, graduate school, a place where scholastic masochists gather together to suffer.
> 
> I'm ending this here, because this story was about Stark getting what he wanted; a friend. If I do write a sequel, it will most likely be from a different perspective. I was thinking Harribel or Gin, because they have a lot of introspective potential. Again, no promises.
> 
> I am not actually qualified to write a sequel, as I stopped following Bleach after Aizen turned into a butterfly. If I did write a sequel, it would be AU with no execution or quincy or whatever.
> 
> If anyone wants to write a sequel, please feel free. I'll even PM you the notes I've got for this and ideas I had.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> A/N: Yeah, I know the last chapter had Stark basically doing nothing and getting captured... re-reading that I know it does not make sense. Originally I had planned a quick fight scene where 12th captain somehow traps Stark, who then tells Lilinette to escape instead of attack. But, well, I'm kind of too lazy to go back and fix the scene.
> 
> ...
> 
> Review Replies:
> 
> ...
> 
> Moon6Shadow
> 
> A/N: Loved your review btw. Let's try to do this in a semblance of order...
> 
> Ichigo in cannon seems to be almost incapable of descriminating against people without reason, evidenced by his easy acceptance of Nel, even though she is an arrancar. He seems to expect the people around him to hold similar non-judgmental opinions, as seen where he doesn't think twice about how Rukia or Renji would treat Nel. I always took this to be very naive of his character. To me, Ichigo is so non-discriminatory that he forgets that other people do descriminate against others without cause.
> 
> Soul Society is over reacting because, from their perspective, there is a very real possibility that someone stronger than Aizen just took over Aizen's forces and plans to attack them.
> 
> They don't know that Mugetsu is Ichigo. Ichigo has told no one his identity other than Stark, Lilinette, and Kaien, because he doesn't want to involve his younger self or family. So, Mugetsu might be friendly with people in Sould Society, but the don't know him. He's also not the same person he once was that they would know, so they probably would not recognize him at once even if he did take off his mask.
> 
> Yes, misunderstandings will inevitably occur. In the sequel if I ever write it. Or if someone else wants to write a sequel, please throw in lots of misunderstandings. I'll give you what little collection of notes I've tossed around on it.
> 
> I just love what you said here: "If this current action or story is going to be about stripping Ichigo's naiveness in regards to soul society you're setting it up very well. Rather an interesting way of writing a story actually. Most time travel or similar stories have Ichigo merge back into soul society or the human world in one form or another. To place Ichigo in a situation where he is now placed in a position where he is considered a threat, possible threat or wary acquaintance by all of his once allies is rather an interesting way of doing things. I'm curious as to where you will go with this."
> 
> Thanks, I'm curious what will happen as well. In the age old words of Toni Morrison, 'If you want to read a story and it doesn't exist, you must write it yourself.' That's what started me writing this story actually. Maybe I'll write a sequel...maybe not. IDK how the future will go.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Dammit, I'm writing this aren't I.
> 
> ...
> 
> Stay tuned for Part 2 of Pack Mentality, told from Harribel's perspective. Will not be a new story, just a continuation on here. Don't know when it will happen or how long it will be, but it's coming.


End file.
